Had To Be You
by RosieShiba
Summary: Having been emotionally blackmailed by his three children, Paul tells them how he fell in love with their mother. Lots of Ikarishipping
1. Chapter 1

**As I promised RaveOn21now22, here's the middle story for my other fic Could Have Been Me :) It should be a short-ish multichapter thingy majig full of Ikari goodness and family fluff. I make myself feel ill sometimes ¬_¬ Anyway, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, if I did, Dawn and Paul would be together :)**

**One: Story Time**

"Time for bed," Paul told his three children. They looked at him as he stood in the door way like they didn't quite believe it was bed time. The eldest, Lewis, slowly sat up in his bed.

"Daddy," Lewis said.

"What, Lewis?" Paul asked.

"Can you tell us a story?" the boy asked, blinking a few times in a rather cute manner. Paul rolled his eyes. He didn't really like telling stories but no doubt they would land him in trouble with Dawn if he refused.

"Yeah, daddy, a story!" the younger boy cheered. This was Josh, Paul's second eldest child. The brothers looked nothing like brothers. Lewis had blue hair while Josh had purple hair. Lewis had Paul's eyes, while Josh had his mother's eyes.

"Please, daddy," Paul's only daughter pleaded. Amber didn't live up her name at all, not in any way, shape or form, yet Dawn was adamant that she be called Amber. Something about a favourite stone or along those lines. Amber had long blue hair and blue eyes, her mother's double in other words.

Paul let out a long sigh before walking over to Amber's bed. The boys shared a bunk bed at one side of the room while Amber had her own single bed. Paul sat next to Amber and put his feet up. The boys looked at him in anticipation.

"What story do you want to hear?" Paul asked, "Cinderella? Three Blind Rattata? The Three Little Tepigs? Mary and her Mareep? Jack and the Bellsprout?"

"Mummy tells us them," Amber said. Of course she did. Dawn always got the easy way out whenever it came to things like this. Paul looked down at Amber.

"What do you want to hear then?" he asked.

"I want to hear about mummy," Josh said excitedly.

"Yeah, daddy," Lewis agreed, "When did you fall in love with mummy?"

"Did you rescue her?" Amber asked, "Like the princes in mummy's stories?"

"Nah," Josh argued, "Mummy would never get into trouble."

Yeah, that's why Paul called her 'Troublesome'.

"Tell us daddy," Lewis pleaded. The three of them looked at Paul with large puppy dog eyes. Paul stood no chance. He let out a sigh and thought back.

"When did I fall in love with your mother?" Paul asked, "It's weird. I don't know when I fell in love with her."

"But you do, don't you?" Amber asked.

"Of course I do," Paul replied. He put an arm round his little girl as he thought about the question. The two boys watched him as he thought about it. They fidgeted in their beds so they were comfy but so they still could see their father. Paul nodded.

"I guess it all started when Dawn visited Uncle Reggie's house," Paul began "It was the first real conversation we had that we laughed over. She got me so worried about Reggie having kids that I decided that I couldn't let it happen…

"_Here's the deal," a teenage Paul told Reggie, "If you tell Maylene you love her before I find a girlfriend, I'll look after your children."_

"_I don't love Maylene," Reggie snapped, growing redder than a tomato._

"_But," Paul went on, ignoring his brother's denial, "If I get a girlfriend before you tell Maylene then I never, ever have to looks after your kids."_

"_How do I know you haven't already got a girlfriend," Reggie said, "Or what if you get a girlfriend and then dump her in a few days. That wouldn't be fair."_

"_Fine," Paul said, growing irritated, "If I have a girlfriend for six months and you still haven't told Maylene, I don't look after your kids."_

"_It's a deal," Reggie agreed. The two brothers shook hands. Paul walked to the door._

"_I'm going to train," he stated._

"_Be home for dinner," Reggie told him. Paul nodded before he disappeared out of the door. _

_Paul walked out into the streets of Veilstone. This plan would work perfectly, he knew it would. Reggie would never, ever tell Maylene how he felt and luckily Maylene was as dense as Ash when it came to things like that. On the downside, Paul had to find a girlfriend. For six months. Why couldn't he have said two months or, even better, a month? Stupid brain._

_A strong gust of wind almost blew Paul off his feet. He grimaced as dust flew into his eyes. He stopped walking to get the dust out. After a few seconds Paul could see again so he continued on his way. However, there was another strong gust of wind and something white and circular shaped whacked him in the face. He grabbed whatever it was that had attacked him to see it was a white beanie hat with a pink pokéball insignia on it. Paul blinked at it a few times._

"_Paul!" Dawn chorused as she ran up to him. She smiled at him. "Thanks for catching my hat."_

"_I thought I recognised it," Paul said passing it to her, "You still wear that old thing?"_

"_It's not that old," Dawn argued. Paul shrugged. "You going to train?"_

"_I was," Paul replied, slipping his hands into his pockets. _

"_Should have known," Dawn said with a shrug, "Well, I'll not keep you."_

_She smiled and was about to walk away when she turned back to him._

"_Oh, yeah," she said, "Did you make that deal with Reggie?"_

"_Yeah," Paul said with a sigh, "But I agreed to have a girlfriend for six months."_

"_Sucks to be you," Dawn commented. She smirked. "Bye then."_

_She walked off, leaving Paul a little stupefied. Sucks… to be him? Did she just make fun of him? Dawn, of all people, made fun of him? Sucks to be him?_

"_Why does it suck to be me?" Paul snapped, knowing she was still in hearing range. Dawn stopped and looked at him, a knowing expression on her face._

"_It just does," she replied, "For a guy who's as unsociable as you, being tied down for anything longer than a week is going to suck. Therefore, it sucks to be you."_

"_And you could quite easily have a relationship for six months?" Paul asked. _

"_That's right," Dawn said with a nod, "Because I'm nice."_

"_Are you saying I'm not nice?" Paul asked._

"_Pretty much," was her reply. She was smiling widely at him. She knew perfectly well that she had hit a nerve, like she had the other night, and was playing him. Paul scowled at her. She shrugged, waved and continued walking on her way. _

_Paul blinked. Did _she_ just walk away from _him_? That… That just wasn't right. Paul tried to resist going after her and would have managed it if his legs hadn't had a mind of their own. _

"_Hey," Paul shouted, catching Dawn's attention. She seemed a little surprised that he had followed her. _

"_What's wrong?" she asked. She checked her hair and then her dress. "Did a drop something else?"_

"_No," Paul replied, "Why am I 'not nice'?"_

"_You called me back to ask me why you're not nice?" she asked, smile returning to her face. _

"_Yes," Paul snapped._

"_Do you have all day?" Dawn asked. Paul tapped his foot. She was making fun of him again, wasn't she? She giggled at him. "I'll send you a list in the post. I have to run. I'm supposed to be meeting Barry at the coffee shop in ten minutes."_

_She had a date? Why did she have a date? Who in their right mind would want to date her?_

"_Jealous?" Dawn asked, watching his expression._

"_You would like that, would you?" he managed to say._

"_I thought so," Dawn said with a wink, "Yes, I am a taken girl, Paul. Sorry. Got to dash. Bye."_

_She walked off again. Paul rolled his eyes and turned to go back the way he was going. To train, that was the plan of the day. There was another gust of wind. Paul stumbled a bit with the force of it._

"_Ow," Dawn cried from behind him. She had fallen over, hadn't she? Paul glanced over his shoulder and sure enough she was lying on the floor. Usually Paul would have walked off, thinking it was just a fall, but Dawn rolled over onto her side and grabbed her ankle. Now that wasn't a good sign. _

_He walked back to her and looked at her ankle, well boot. _

"_Troublesome," he told her. _

"_Meanie," she retorted. _

_OK, he wasn't expecting a retort. Instead of arguing he slowly began to pull her boot off._

"_Hey!" she yelled, but he didn't listen to her. "OW!"_

"_Stop screaming," he snapped._

"_Stop hurting me!" she shouted back. Paul grimaced at the loudness and the shrillness of her voice. Who knew a girl could go that high pitched? Paul ignored her anyway and went back to taking off her boot. She bit down on her lip as he slid it off her foot. The ankle was swollen. _

"_Looks bad," he told her._

"_Really? Because the incredible pain would have told me otherwise?" she snapped at him. Paul couldn't help but smirk at her. She was funny in her own little way. He passed her the boot._

"_Put it back on," he said, "You don't want your foot getting cold do you?"_

_Dawn shook her head and tried to put the boot back on. She grimaced as she did so but managed to slide it back on without too many grunts of pain. Paul turned his back to her. _

"_Get on," he ordered. Dawn shuffled and grabbed hold of him round the neck. He lifted her up easily and picked her up in a piggy back. She hugged him close. He walked back towards Reggie's house, knowing full well Reggie would know what to do. However, when they reached the door, Paul found a problem. If he knocked, he would drop Dawn. Without saying anything, Dawn kicked the door with her good foot. Reggie rushed to the door and opened it quickly. He looked at the two teens, wondering what was going on._

"_She fell over," Paul explained._

"_I did not," Dawn yelled, "I was blown over and I twisted my ankle and now it really hurts! Jerk."_

_Reggie closed the door while chuckling. Paul carried Dawn into the living room and dumped her on the sofa, careful enough so she didn't bang her ankle but careless enough to make it seem like he didn't care. She growled at him, muttering 'jerk' under her breath. Reggie walked into the room holding the first aid kit. Paul walked towards the back door once again._

"_Where are you going?" Reggie asked._

"_She was meeting someone," Paul stated, "He might want to come and check up on her."_

_With that he was gone. Dawn looked at a startled Reggie with a nervous smile on her face. Reggie let out a sigh._

"_This is going to end badly, isn't it?" he asked._

"_Probably," she replied._

_Of course, Dawn had only told Paul that she was going to meet Barry and forgot to tell him that Barry was the head of Paul's Fan Club… Need more be said…_

"So…" Lewis said, "What happened after that?"

"It's late," Paul told his children, "And your mother will tell me off if I kept you up too late."

"But daaaaaddddiiiieee," the three of them moaned. Paul smirked.

"I'll tell you some more tomorrow," Paul promised. They pulled faces but settled down into bed. Paul kissed Amber's head and walked out of the room.

"Night Lewis, Josh and Amber," he said.

"Night daddy," they replied in a chorus. Paul flicked the light off and closed the door.

"Paul Fan Club…" Paul muttered, "They annoyed me then and they annoy me now. I guess things don't change."

He walked downstairs not thinking any more about the fan club, just in case he had nightmares… again.

**So there is Chapter One! Hope it wasn't too bad :) Please review with your thoughts. If you have any requests or ideas then feel free to tell me them and I'll try and include them (I'm fast running out of ideas). Thanks!**

**RSx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to Light-Sakura, splitheart1120, AikoAkahana, RaveOn21now22 and Midnightmoon602 for reviewing XD Usually I wouldn't update so quickly but since people seem to like this I thought I'd thank you all :) Please don't mind any grammar or spelling mistakes since I wrote this at... 1am the other night and I'm not currently awake at the minute to check it in detail (stupid plot fairy kept me up until 12 last night). If you spot anything, put it down to sleep deprevation, but please enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, blah de blah...**

**Two: Fun at the Mall**

Paul was attempting to read an article on Ash, the Champion of Kanto (on his fifth attempt at the league, Paul added), in PokéTime magazine when he was suddenly aware he was surrounded. He didn't have to glance up to know who it was watching him.

"What do you three want?" he asked. The three children were sat on the carpet, looking up at their father like they were expecting something. Paul looked over his magazine and let out a sigh. He closed it and put it on the sofa beside him. "You want more of the story, don't you?"

"Yes!" they yelled. Paul rolled his eyes. He glanced at the magazine and smirked.

"Will you, daddy?" Amber asked.

"OK, then," Paul replied, "The magazine just reminded me of a time not long after the last story…

_Dawn was still limping from her broken ankle. She wasn't the only one. Since Paul had gone to fetch Barry for her, Barry had jumped all over Paul in his excitement. Paul glared at Dawn when she dared to laugh at him when he rubbed his shoulders. She knew it was her fault but she couldn't help it, it was hilarious. _

_The two of them had been following Reggie and Maylene for most of the day. It was supposed to be a girly day for Maylene and Dawn but one thing led to another and Reggie was invited and then Paul was dragged along so that Reggie (or Dawn) wouldn't be the third wheel. So Dawn was hanging with Paul more than Mayelene, much to Paul's displeasure. He could feel his deal with Reggie turning back on him._

_They walked through the department store. Dawn was at one stall rummaging through items while Reggie and Maylene were rummaging through some other items a little further away. Dawn was using Paul as a holder, not that he got a say in it._

"_Dawn!" yelled a voice. Paul and Dawn turned to see who was shouting her. _

"_Pika pi."_

_Not him, please not him, Paul thought. Ash appeared with Pikachu on his shoulders._

"_Ash!" Dawn squealed. Paul rolled his eyes at the gushing blunette. Ash and her high fived each other. "How are you? I thought you were in Unova still."_

"_Nope, I finished the league," Ash stated proudly, "I came fifth."_

"_That's so good," Dawn said happily._

"_And I thought that I'd pop by to see how you were doing," Ash explained._

_Paul watched the conversation between the two and realised he'd been forgotten. No matter, he didn't want to talk to his former rival. Not that Paul was bitter or anything about loosing to Ash all those years ago, but Ash was still as annoying as before. Maybe is he just stood still, Ash wouldn't notice him and mistake him for a rather grumpy manikin… Wait… Did he just call himself grumpy in his own thoughts?_

"_Hey, Ash," Reggie greeted Ash._

"_Hey Reggie, Hey Maylene," Ash greeted Paul's brother and the Veilstone Gym leader, "How are you two?"_

"_We're fine," Maylene replied, "Reggie and I were just doing a bit of shopping with Dawn and Paul."_

"_Paul?" Ash asked, "Where is he?"_

_Dawn scowled at Ash before she clipped his round the head._

"_He's right there," Dawn snapped pointing at Paul, "He's been standing there the whole time."_

"_Oh," Ash said, "I guess I didn't see him."_

"_Idiot," Dawn snapped. Ash looked at Paul._

"_Why are you shopping any way?" Ash asked looking suspiciously at Paul._

"_Because it's the end of season sale and I wanted a good bargain," Paul replied. Dawn clipped him round the head. "What was that for?"_

"_Sarcasm," Dawn replied, "Ash doesn't get it."_

"_Figures," Paul retorted. Another clip. "Ow. Stop that already."_

"_What's going on here?" Ash asked. Dawn and Paul looked at Ash, their argument disappeared as they stared at the other teen. Pikachu was shaking his head. _

"_Pi pi kachu," Pikachu said. Ash shook his head._

"_So do you want to battle?" Ash asked._

"_If it'll get me out of holding stuff for Shopzilla, yeah," Paul replied with a nod. Ash blinked a few times as Dawn clipped Paul round the head and the argument began again._

"_Shopzilla? Are you saying I shop a lot or I'm a monster?" Dawn yelled._

"_You're a monster," Paul replied boredly. Clip. "Will you stop hitting me!"_

"_Not until you're nice to me!" Dawn shouted. _

"_It's not my fault you're a monster," Paul said._

_Reggie put a hand on Ash's shoulder. Ash looked over at the elder purple haired guy._

"_Want to grab a drink while these two yell at each other?" Reggie asked._

"_Sure," Ash replied with a shrug. The three of them left with Pikachu while Dawn and Paul continued to argue. At the same time they both seemed to realise that their friends had disappeared. They looked at each other and then round the shop. _

"_Where did they go?" Dawn asked. _

"_I'm not sure," Paul replied, "No doubt Reggie would go and look at the health stuff."_

"_They're with Ash," Dawn told Paul, "They've gone to the food court."_

_Sure enough, four flights up Paul and Dawn came upon the three who had abandoned them. Ash was munching on some cake while Reggie and Maylene drank soda. Ash turned to wave at Dawn. _

"_Hey," he yelled. Dawn sat down next to Maylene while Paul sat opposite her, next to Reggie. The two glared at each other._

"_So what are you doing now?" Dawn asked Ash._

"_I'm re-taking the Kanto League," Ash replied, "I want to become champion so I decided to go back to my roots."_

"_Sounds like a good plan," Dawn said, "I hope you do well."_

"_Of course!" Ash yelled, "But first I'm going to take on Paul."_

"_That's an experience," Dawn commented._

"_So's travelling with you," Paul replied. Dawn kicked him hard under the table. Paul winced. "Would you please stop attacking me?"_

"_No!" Dawn yelled._

_Outside the department store Ash and Paul got ready for their battle. Dawn was on the side lines cheering Ash on, like usual. Paul scowled at her._

"_Will you be quiet!" he yelled at her._

"_Jealous?" she yelled back, "Go on Ash, you can do it!"_

"Who won?" Josh interrupted.

"Daddy did, of course," Lewis told his younger brother.

"Can I continue with my story?" Paul asked. The three of them nodded.

_Paul was of course the victor. He completely flattened Ash's Pokémon. Ash picked up his Pikachu at the end of the match._

"_Whoa," Ash muttered, "What was that about?"_

_Paul glanced at Ash, confused about what he meant. Dawn jumped on Ash's arm, checking Pikachu._

"_Are you alright, Pikachu?" she asked the small yellow mouse._

"_Pikaachuuu," Pikachu replied. Dawn smiled at it before scowling at Paul._

"_That was so mean!" Dawn yelled._

"_What? Beating your boyfriend?" Paul asked._

"_No! Hurting Pikachu!" Dawn shouted. She stuck her tongue out at Paul. Ash looked confused._

"_I'm your boyfriend?" Ash asked. Dawn didn't respond through talking. She clipped Ash over his head so hard he fell face first on the floor, holding Pikachu over his head._

"_Paul's being sarcastic you idiot," Dawn told Ash. She folded her arms over her chest and looked away from both boys. Paul rolled his eyes and looked in the opposite direction to Dawn. Ash looked between the two before getting the whole thing._

"_Hey I know," Ash said, "You two like each other."_

"_NO WE DON'T!" was the reply he got._

"So then you realised you really did love mummy?" Josh asked.

"Not even close," Paul replied with a shake of the head. The three children looked at each other, confused.

"But I thought you were going to tell us how you fell in love with mummy," Amber said, pouting.

"I'm getting to it," Paul told them, "But right now, you need to go and get washed and dressed."

"Will you tell us more of the story when we get back?" Amber asked as the three children stood up. Paul nodded. The three children went running upstairs so they could get ready. Dawn popped her head round the door in the kitchen, smile on her face.

"So, you've taken over as the story teller huh?" she teased. Paul nodded. "Are you going to tell them what happened next?"

"No," Paul replied. Dawn smiled.

"Why are you embarrassed?" she asked.

"No," Paul said.

"Well, I'm going to sit in with the next chapter," Dawn told her husband, "With Alfie because we need to spend time with you too."

Paul glared as his wife disappeared into the kitchen once again. She began talking to their fourth child, baby Alfie. Paul faced palmed. He wasn't looking forwards to this next story…

**Hehe. What will the next story be? :O I'll update when I have spare time over the next few days (I like to keep a few chapters ahead of myself). Like I said, if you have any ideas you'd like to feed me, feel free to tell my plot fairy. Every little helps :) And reviewing also makes me write and update faster (nudge, nudge). Bye!**

**RSx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Woo! Next chapter! I'm glad that people are liking this so much :) Thanks to Meta-Akira, AikoAkahana, Splitheart1120, Light-Sakura, RaveOn21now22, Midnightmoon602, Shippofan2k and AnimexLuver4Ever for reviewing XD You're the reason the updates are happening so quickly. **

**Just a quick note to Midnightmoon602: Thanks for the tip. I thought the last chapter was lacking in detail and I hope this is better :D **

**Disclaimer: The usual, I don't own Pokémon… but in a strange sense, I do own Paul and Dawn's kids… Does that mean I have to pay child support? **

**Three: Undies**

The three children resumed their places in front of their father ten minutes later. Their mother walked into the lounge with their youngest brother in her arms.

"Morning mummy," the three chorused.

"Are you here to listen to the story?" Josh asked.

"This is my most favourite part," Dawn replied with a wink at her husband. Paul groaned.

"Continue, dad," Lewis said. Dawn sat down next to Paul, waiting like her children were. Paul took a deep breath before starting.

"You see after Ash and I had our battle and your mother and I argued, yet again, I decided to go for a walk to cool off and because Ash was annoying me," Paul said with a side glance to his wife, "But while I was walking it rained and I got drenched…

"_You're such an idiot to get sick because of the rain," Dawn laughed as she saw Paul in bed. She had brought him some water and medicine because she had offered to do it for Reggie. Really she just wanted to poke fun at the purple haired teen for being so dumb. _

"_Go away," Paul said, irritably. He pushed himself up into a sitting position so he could take a drink and take his medicine. Dawn watched him with a stupid smile on her face. He passed her the empty glass and settled back in the covers. To say he was a teenager, he had a very bland room. His duvet was a simple violet colour while his walls were another, lighter shade of purple. Dawn looked round to see there was a desk and chair with a computer on the desktop. There were a few shelves on the wall above the computer which were loaded with books. Dawn returned to looking at Paul. He was rubbing his head in a pained sort of way._

"_Does Mr Grumpy have a fever?" she asked, mocking him. Paul growled at her. Before he could reply, Reggie burst into the room._

"_Paul, I have to go out," he said. His face was panic stricken but that could've meant anything._

"_Fine," Paul replied, not even bothering to ask what the emergency was. Dawn looked between the brothers._

"_But who's going to look after Paul?" Dawn asked, "He looks more terrible than usual." _

"_Shut up," Paul snapped before he started coughing like crazy. Reggie seemed to debate this mentally for a few seconds._

"_Dawn," Reggie said finally, "Can you look after him for me?"_

"_WHAT?" the two teens asked. They glared at each other._

"_It may be for a few days, but I can trust you right?" Reggie said. The two teens looked at each other before Dawn nodded._

"_Sure, Reggie," Dawn said, "I can look after Paul, no problem."_

"_Thanks, Dawn," Reggie said, "Paul. Behave."_

"_Me behave?" Paul asked, "I'm SICK!"_

"_Stop whining," Reggie retorted, "It's your own stupid fault you got sick in the first place."_

_Paul laid back down and threw the covers over his head, too sick to think of a witty comeback. Dawn smiled at the lump in the duvet which was now Paul. Reggie hurried off into his own room and shoved some things into a bag. Dawn would have gone and watched Reggie pack, but she had found poking Paul a much more amusing thing to do, especially since all he did in reply was grunt._

"_I'm going now," Reggie told them, suddenly reappearing at Paul's door._

"_Bye," Paul said from under the duvet. Dawn gave Paul one last prod before she followed Reggie downstairs._

_She walked Reggie to the door. He quickly put on his shoes and coat. He glanced at Dawn._

"_Please, take care of him," Reggie said, "He's a handful but please bare with him."_

"_I'll hide the evidence," Dawn replied. Reggie smiled before rushing off. Dawn waved and closed the door. She locked the door and looked around the empty entrance hall. Everything was so quiet and boring now there was no one around. Paul was in bed upstairs and she didn't really like the idea of staying in his room all day. A thought struck Dawn. She pulled out a pokéball and released Piplup. The small blue penguin looked confused at his surroundings. "We're at Reggie's house."_

"_Piplup," Piplup said. _

"_We have to look after Paul, he's sick," Dawn explained, "And Reggie's had to go somewhere."_

"_Pip pip piplup," Piplup moaned._

"_Come on, lets do something," Dawn said. Piplup shook its head as its trainer skipped into the kitchen to cook._

_Sometime later Piplup had grown bored of watching Dawn try and decide what to cook. Instead, Piplup decided to explore the house. He went from room to room, just looking around, seeing what is there. Eventually he made it upstairs and came upon Paul's room._

_Paul was sleeping peacefully in his bed with the duvet tucked underneath his chin. All in all, he looked very comfy laid sleeping. Piplup got an evil glint in his eye as he waddled into the room. Oh this was the perfect time for revenge…_

_After about five minutes Piplup was all set for revenge. He stood beside Paul's bed ready to set his plan into motion. _

"_Piiiiipluuuup," Piplup said as he created a small whirlpool and shot it at Paul's head. Paul shot up and looked round the room. He saw the small blue penguin._

"_You little-" Paul growled as he launched himself at Piplup. Piplup managed to dodge and was running down the stairs at break neck speed before Paul could react further. After a few grunt and groans, Paul pursued, determined to catch the stupid little Pokémon and make it pay for waking him. Piplup and Paul raced down the stairs and then into the lounge. Piplup stopped at the kitchen door and began squawking loudly. Dawn turned round with a confused expression on her face just as Paul snatched the small Pokémon into his hands and began shaking it wildly._

_Dawn screamed._

_Paul stopped shaking Piplup and glared at her._

"_I'm not really hurting it," he told her. He realised she was red in the face. He looked at Piplup who seemed to be smirking at him. Piplup looked down. Paul looked down at himself to find he wasn't wearing any trousers. He was modelling his boxers to Dawn. Paul let go of Piplup, blushing red, before dashing back upstairs to find some clothes. _

_Dawn bit her lip and tried to think about other things but her thoughts kept returning to Paul in his boxers._

"_Stop it Dawn," she told herself. She heard Paul return a few minutes later._

"_Tell your stupid Pokémon not to steal my clothes in the future," Paul snapped, shooting a glare at Piplup. Dawn smirked at him._

"_You didn't tell me," she said. Paul was confused._

"_Tell you what?" he asked._

"_You've got such nice legs," she replied, "I have a skirt I can lend you if you'd like."_

"_Just leave me alone," Paul said weakly. He walked through to the lounge and sat down on a sofa, suddenly very worn out from the rushing around. Dawn popped her head round the door._

"_Are you alright?" she asked. Paul nodded. Feeling slightly bad for him, she went and sat down beside him and checked his temperature. He was hot. She panicked for a few seconds before she remembered what Brock had told her once. She went into the kitchen for a few minutes and returned. She had in her hand a cold, damp flannel. She placed it carefully on Paul's head. He glanced at her without moving his head._

"_What are you doing?" he asked._

"_Trying to bring your temperature down," she replied, "You're too hot."_

"_Are you just saying that because just saw me in my boxers?" he asked with a smirk. _

"_Yes, because I just love seeing Turtwig print undies," Dawn replied with a tone laced with sarcasm, "They really turn me on."_

"_Sorry," Paul said with a cough, "Next time I'll get Piplup print ones."_

_Dawn giggled as she dabbed his head with the flannel. She let it rest on his head, finally. She kissed his cheek before going back into the kitchen. Paul watched her walk away._

"_If you got Piplup print ones, it'd be a bit weird," Dawn told him with a wink, "Because then we'd match."_

_Paul went slightly pink, although Dawn couldn't tell if it was due to the fever or embarrassment. He coughed slightly._

"_Too much information, Troublesome," he told her._

"_At least I'm not modelling mine," she said before leaving him to fester in his own embarrassment._

The three children couldn't stop laughing at their father as he finished the story. His wife seemed to have broken down into childish giggles as well. Paul let out a sigh and rolled his eyes.

"Then what happened?" Lewis asked.

"I'm not telling you," Paul replied as he picked up his magazine and reopened it to the page he had been reading almost an hour ago. The children looked at their mother.

"Paul," she said. Paul shrugged. Dawn smiled as she turned back to her children. "If your father's not going to tell you the next part of the story, shall I tell you about your father's first Pokémon battle?"

"Yeah!" the three children cheered. Paul glanced up, suddenly very alert.

"That's low," Paul remarked as he quickly closed his magazine in a bid to get his children's attention before all respect was lost. "So then…

_Dawn brought Paul a tray full of food later on that evening. The sun was setting and the other Pokémon were settling down for the night after being fed by Dawn._

"_So what shall we do tonight?" she asked him as she gently placed the tray on his lap, "We could watch a few movies."_

"_Hn," Paul said as he began eating his food. Dawn sat down next to him and kept stealing pieces of his food, although he didn't mind. She had made sort of a sharing platter so it wasn't like there wasn't enough food. They absentmindedly watched some movie that happened to be on the TV. After their food was gone, Dawn cleared up and brought down Paul's duvet from his room so that he could keep warm downstairs. Dawn picked the movie which was Pokémon Ranger 3, an action/adventure film rather than a cheesy romance film. Paul was mildly surprised at the choice but didn't complain. _

_The two of them sat watching the film. Paul was wrapped up in his duvet while Dawn was sat next to him. Piplup was in the kitchen. Dawn wasn't sure what the penguin was doing but she didn't really care as the opening credits began to roll._

_After five or ten minutes Dawn began to shiver. The film was set in Snowpoint City and the thought of ice and snow made Dawn feel cold even though she wasn't really. Paul rolled his eyes and offered her some of his duvet. She cuddled up to him. Paul glanced down at her but she was too focused on the movie to notice. Typical girls, Paul thought, stealing a sick man's duvet._

_Near the middle of the film Dawn looked up at Paul to find he was dozing. She smiled at him, thinking how innocent he looked while he was sleeping. His expression was relaxed and in a way he looked sort of cute. Cuteness aside, she turned her attention back to the film once more but she didn't last too long. Soon she was fast asleep just like Paul was. _

_There was a knock at the back door. Piplup, who had been paddling in the sink, quickly got up and ran to open it. He struggled to unlock the door and turn the handle but in the end he managed it. Ash and Pikachue peered into the empty hallway, wondering who had opened the door for them. Pikachu was perched on Ash's shoulder like usual. Piplup chirped at them and they both glanced down. _

"_Hey, Piplup," Ash greeted, "I thought I'd come and check on Dawn and Paul."_

"_Pikachuuu," Pikachu agreed._

"_Pip piplup," Piplup said pointing to the lounge, "Piplup, pip."_

"_Pikaa?" Pikachu asked. Piplup nodded. _

"_What's wrong?" Ash asked, hurrying to see what was wrong. Ash peered into the lounge to see the two teens cuddled up on the sofa, sleeping soundly. Ash rubbed his head. "I wasn't expecting that."_

_Paul's eyes slowly opened and he glanced towards Ash._

"_What are you doing here?" Paul asked. Paul looked down to see Dawn using him as a pillow. He looked at Ash, then Dawn, then Ash again. "It's not what it looks like."_

_Ash laughed and laughed. It took Paul a few minutes to detangle himself from Dawn without waking her. Once free, Paul chased Ash out of the house. Of course, Paul knew instantly that he would come to regret this whole thing. _

_Sure enough when Reggie returned, he already had photo evidence of such an occurrence…_

**Fluff at the end… Sort of. As fluffy as you can get Paul, I suppose. Anyway, hope you liked this :) Reviews make me write and update quicker so keep it up!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four here is up :) I'm hoping to write about 10 chapters so nearly half way... Woo! Thanks to Shippofan2K, Macy Webber, AikoAkahana, splitheart1120, Light-Sakura, AnimexLuver4Ever and RaveOn21now22 for reviewing :) These chapters are getting longer and longer ¬_¬ Ah well. I don't mind writing long chapters if people don't mind reading them. About the pictures from the last chapter. It is a law (sod's law) that when you do something mildly embarrassing, there will be picture proof of it coming from one source or another. Personally, I think Piplup is a budding photographer but if you have a much better idea how the photos got taken, I'll leave it to you. **

**Disclaimer: me no own Paul, Dawn or anything really.**

**Four: Stormy Relationship**

The three children sat staring at their parents. Alfie had interrupted the story because he was hungry. Paul was currently feeding the baby in his arms with a bottle filled with milk while Dawn stretched.

"While your father's feeding Alfie, why don't I tell you the next part of the story?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah!" the three yelled. Dawn looked at her husband who just seemed to shrug in response. She thought back for a few seconds before she nodded.

"Well, I wasn't always in Veilstone," Dawn said, "Sometimes I had to go and visit my mother in Twinleaf Town but I always returned to Veilstone so I could work with Paris. But…

"_You're so mean!"_

_Dawn's voice meant the beginning of another argument, Reggie thought as he chopped up some vegetables in the kitchen. Paul and Dawn were outside with their Pokémon. They were supposed to be grooming the Pokémon, not fighting each other. Reggie let out a sigh._

_Those two were forever fighting over little things. Reggie half wished they'd sort themselves out but there was a tiny bit in the back of his mind that made him glad they were arguing. If Paul and Dawn went out then the deal would be jeopardy. _

_Paul burst through the door dripping wet. Dawn followed behind him, also dripping wet._

"_What happened?" Reggie asked. _

"_Nothing," Paul replied. Dawn folded her arms over her chest._

"_Well, I hope you're happy now," she snapped, "I'm all wet because of you."_

"_I told you," Paul said calmly, "Weavile was thrashing around."_

"_Yeah right," Dawn said. Reggie handed her a towel and she began drying her hair, all the while glaring daggers at Paul. Paul had taken off his jacket and was ringing it out in the sink. Reggie looked between the now silent teens. _

"_What were you arguing about?" Reggie asked._

"_Well," Dawn replied, "I was telling Paul how I had to go home and see my mother next week."_

"_Oh?" Reggie asked, glancing over at Paul._

"_So I asked him if you would mind looking after Bunneary for me just in case Paris needed her," Dawn continued, "To which Paul said 'Reggie doesn't mind looking after pathetic Pokémon'."_

"_I didn't say that," Paul said, "I said 'I'm sure Reggie wouldn't mind after her' then Weavile moved round and I said 'pathetic Pokémon' to him."_

"_And that sparked an argument?" Reggie asked, chuckling, "And a water fight? You two are like an old married couple."_

"_Hmph," Dawn and Paul snapped. Reggie chuckled a little louder as the two teens turned away from each other. Dawn placed her towel on the side and she looked at Reggie._

"_Well, I have to go and pack now," she announced, "Can I drop off Bunneary tomorrow morning?"_

"_Sure," Reggie replied._

"_Thanks Reggie," Dawn beamed. She gave Reggie and tight hug and walked back to the door. "See you tomorrow then."_

_Paul blinked after she was gone._

"_What's the matter?" Reggie asked his brother, "Sad you didn't get a hug?"_

"_No," Paul snapped. With that Paul went up to his room to get changed._

"So you left?" Amber asked her mother. Dawn nodded.

"I went back to Twinleaf," Dawn explained.

"And Daddy missed you?" Josh asked. This time Dawn shook her head. The children's faces fell as their mother shook her head. They looked at their father for an explanation.

"It was a week," Paul replied, "I liked the peace and quiet."

"Boo," Lewis and Josh sang. Paul frowned at them.

"Don't boo your father just yet," Dawn told her sons, "After a week had passed, I phoned Reggie to tell him that I was staying in Twinleaf a little longer."

"Reggie told me your mother was going to be a few more weeks before she got back," Paul took over as he handed Dawn Alfie. "Naturally, I couldn't care less…

_Paul sat on his bed with his head against the wall. He was juggling a pokéball in his had, wondering mindlessly about battle tactics and training methods. Suddenly he threw the pokéball into his open wardrobe in frustration. Fortunately there wasn't a Pokémon in the pokéball so he hadn't disturbed anything. _

_There was nothing to do. Training seemed boring. Grooming seemed pointless. Even going for walks seemed to be dull. Paul was frustrated by the fact he couldn't find anything to do. He had tried watching movies (he went on a Pokémon Ranger Movie Marathon but had turned off the first film in five minutes) and playing games but they didn't work either. What was wrong with him?_

_Reggie seemed to poke his head round the door as Paul thought this. Paul looked at his older brother and frowned._

"_What?" Paul snapped._

"_Nothing," Reggie replied, "I just wondered if you had found something to do."_

"_Not yet," Paul said with a sigh, "I don't get it. I just don't seem to want to do anything."_

"_I know what it is," Reggie said with a knowing tone. Paul blinked a few times before nodding at his brother. "You miss Dawn."_

"_Why would I miss her?" Paul asked. Reggie almost fell over. He recovered quickly and rubbed his head._

"_The arguing? The doing things together? The attacking each other? Don't you know what that means?" Reggie asked._

"_No," Paul replied. Reggie shook his head._

"_I give up," he said. Reggie looked towards Paul's computer and an idea popped into his head. "If you want to do something, I've got something for you."_

"_What is it?" Paul asked, interested. He was desperate for things to do._

"_Professor Rowan wants me to deliver a Pokémon to him," Reggie explained, "You think you could do it for me?"_

"_Sure," Paul said with a nod, "It won't take me too long to fly there with Honchkrow."_

"_You know where you're going?" Reggie asked fifteen minutes later as Paul pulled on his back pack. Honchkrow was waiting by the back door. Paul gave Reggie a look as if Reggie was calling him stupid._

"_It's a big lab building," Paul replied, "I doubt I'll miss it."_

"_Alright," Reggie said with a sigh, "Be careful."_

_Paul climbed onto the Boss Pokémon's back and the two of them took off into the sky. Reggie waved, knowing full well Paul wouldn't look or wave back. Slowly he turned and returned inside the house, letting out a long sigh._

_A few hours later Honchkrow touched down in Sandgem Town. It was raining by the time Honchkrow landed. Grudgingly, Paul returned Honchkrow and walked towards the Professor's lab. He knocked on the door a few times before an aide answered the door._

_The scientist blinked a few times before asking: "Is it raining?"_

_Paul bit his lip and nodded. The scientist let Paul into the lab. _

"_My brother said to bring the Professor this Pokémon," Paul explained, holding out a pokéball Reggie had given him. The scientist's face lit up and Paul was dragged further into the lab. The two of them walked through a door at the back of the lab._

_Rowan was sat in a lounge area, chuckling happily to some one. The room had large red sofas, although Paul couldn't most of the room because there was a wall blocking it but the Professor was visible. Paul didn't have time to see who was with the Professor because the aide quickly called the old man over._

"_Professor, the Pokémon has arrived," the aide said excitedly. The Professor leapt out of his seat, muttered a quick excuse me to his guest and walked over to his aide. Rowan looked at Paul with a quizzical expression on his face. Paul handed Rowan the pokéball._

"_I thought Reggie was going to send it through the computer," the Professor stated, "No matter. Thank you for bringing this here. You look drenched. Maybe you'd like to rest here a while."_

_Paul shook his head._

"_No need," he said, "I just need to go to the Pokémon Centre and then-"_

"_Hey, it's Paul."_

_Paul shuddered as he recognised that tone. There was no mistake: it was Barry. Paul backed away slightly as Barry appeared round the corner of the wall._

"_Paul!" he yelled, leaping towards Paul. He didn't get far because something pulled him back and he landed in a heap on the floor. _

"_Don't jump on him," came a new voice. A boy wearing a red hat came into view. "Hi, I'm Lucas. I guess you're Paul."_

"_Hn," Paul said with a nod._

"_I've heard so much about you from Barry," Lucas went on, "He worships you like a god or something."_

"_What's everyone talking about?"_

_Paul groaned. Not her, please not her. He wanted a quiet day not to bump into her. He was leaving._

_Dawn appeared looking quite confused. She was looking at Barry on the floor before she looked at Paul._

"_What are you doing here?" she asked, blinking repeatedly. _

"_Paul was just delivering me this Pokémon," Rowan explained, "Reggie has been raising it for me."_

"_I'll be going," Paul said as he turned to go towards the exit of the lab. Something caught his arm and dragged him back._

"_It's raining," Dawn told him, "You'll get sick again."_

"_I'll be fine," Paul replied. He looked down at Dawn to see her staring up at him. Her eyes were wide while her lower lip was trembling. Did she honestly think that was going to work? Paul shook her off. She stepped back._

"_Wait, Paul!" Barry yelled. Paul was out of the Lab door before Barry could catch up. Paul let out a sigh as the fresh air and rain hit his face. He reached for Honchkrow's Pokéball… Where was it? Paul quickly searched his pockets, then his back pack. No way, he was one Pokéball short! Where could it… Dawn._

_He stormed back into the lab and walked into the lounge area where the Professor and the three other teens had been sat previously. He spotted Dawn instantly since she was the only one in the room. He stomped over to her. She smiled at him. She was sat on her own beside the fire with a magazine in her hands._

"_Changed your mind?" she asked._

"_Give me Honchkrow," he told her. He held out his hand, demanding the return of his bird Pokémon. Dawn's smile widened._

"_I don't have it," she said._

"_Where is it?" Paul asked. Dawn thought for a few minutes._

"_I don't quite remember…" she said, painfully slow. Lucas walked through the door with a smile on his face. The smile disappeared when he saw Paul. _

"_Er… You're back soon," Lucas said. Paul rolled his eyes._

"_Troublesome, I need Honchkrow," Paul told Dawn._

"_Well, Honchkrow needs a rest," Dawn replied, "I asked Lucas to send Honchkrow across to the Pokémon Centre."_

_Paul felt his eyebrow twitch as he closed his eyes. Deep breaths Paul… You can stay calm, he told himself in his head. He felt someone grab his arm again. He pulled away from the hand. He opened his eyes and glared at Dawn, who was face to face with him._

"_You know you are a real pain, Troublesome," he snapped. He began to walk over to the door with the determination to leave._

"_Like you're so easy to live with!" she yelled. He stopped dead. "Mr Meanie, Mr Quiet, Mr Torterra Boxers!"_

"_I'm going to go… You know… See what Barry and the Professor are doing," Lucas whimpered before rushing out of the room. Paul watched the cowardly boy leave and rolled his eyes._

"_You have to look after yourself," Dawn went on, clearly ignoring that Lucas had gone. "You got really sick last time you took off in the rain."_

"_I do what I want," Paul replied._

"_You're so stupid!" Dawn shouted, "Thinking you know best!"_

"_Maybe I do know best," Paul snapped, "I know what I can do. So let me get home."_

"_And what I am supposed to do? Hmm? Sit here and hope you don't pass out on your flight home from the cold?" Dawn asked. Paul glared at Dawn._

"_You think I'm that weak?" he asked. Dawn burst into tears. Now Paul wasn't expecting that. After a few seconds she began laughing. Why was she laughing when she was crying? _

"_You're so dense…" she said. She wiped her eyes. "I care about you. I don't want you to get hurt."_

"_I don't," Paul replied. Slowly Dawn's smile vanished. _

"_Fine," she said softly, "Go to Veilstone in this storm. Let me worry all night about you. I know you can do it but I just don't want you to."_

_She sat down on the sofa with her back to him. Paul was about to leave when it suddenly hit him. The feeling of not wanting to go, the guilt of making her worry… She'd emotionally blackmailed him! How had she managed that? It wasn't fair! How could she blackmail him? He showed no emotions! He felt no emotions most of the time, apart from grumpy, annoyance and… he just called himself grumpy in his own thoughts again._

_Sighing slightly, knowing full well he wasn't going to win this one, Paul walked to the sofa and sat down next to Dawn with his arms folded. Dawn glanced at him, tears still in her eyes. _

"_You're not going?" she asked with a sniffle. Paul shook his head._

"_You'd only tell Reggie," he replied. She managed a nervous giggle as she wiped her eyes. _

"_Thanks," she muttered._

"_Do you really care about me?" Paul asked after a few minutes of silence. Dawn nodded. Paul smirked. "I don't know why you should. We argue most of the time. Fight the rest of the time."_

"_But…" Dawn said. She looked at the floor in front of her. "Don't you know why that is?"_

"_Why what is?" Paul asked. Dawn's cheeks went slightly pink as she looked at Paul._

"_You're so dense," she laughed, wiping the last of her tears from her eyes. She got to her feet. "I wonder if the Professor and the guys want a drink. I'll go check. Would you like anything?"_

"_I'm fine," Paul said, confused, "Thanks."_

"_I'll be right back," she told him, "So don't even think about running out on me."_

"_Like I would do that," Paul replied. Dawn smiled at him before disappearing._

_Paul sat in thought for a few minutes. What did she mean by 'don't you know why that is'? Reggie had said something similar earlier on that day. That was annoying, he was out of the loop… What ever did they mean?_

"And then you realised you loved mummy," Amber said, but her parents shook their heads. The three children groaned.

"Daddy, you were so stupid!" Josh told his father. Paul's face dropped. His children were fast loosing respect for him. His wife giggled.

"He was," she admitted, "But so are most boys when it comes to these things. One day you two will be doing the same thing as your father."

"I hope not," Paul mumbled. Dawn shot him a glare.

"What do mean by that?" she asked. The children looked worriedly at each other. One by one they got to their feet. Lewis grabbed Alfie and the four of them made a dash for it into the kitchen. They knew that tone of voice from their mother. An argument was just about to start.

"Nothing," Paul replied, folding his arms.

"Are you implying that you regret marrying me?" she asked.

"We were married when you were eighteen," Paul replied calmly, "It's not the marriage I'm talking about."

"What do you… oh," Dawn said, "That…"

The two of them stared at each other for a second before looking back to where their children had been sat.

"So then… Where did they go?" Paul asked. Dawn looked around wildly for her four children. After a few seconds, four heads popped round the door of the kitchen.

"Ma ma," Alfie said. Dawn and Paul looked at each other before smiling at each other.

"You two stopped arguing?" Lewis asked.

"Let's continue with the story," Dawn said.

"Yeah!" Amber and Josh yelled. Lewis and Alfie glanced at each other before Lewis let out a sigh.

"Things haven't changed," Lewis mumbled.

***pats Lewis on head* There, there. Hehe, I love Alfie. Anyway, what will happen is Sandgem Town? Poor Paul, stuck with Barry. Poor Dawn being stuck with a dumb Paul. They're both as bad as each other, that's what makes it so fun :) Hope you enjoyed!**

**RSx**


	5. Chapter 5

**Update time again woo! Thanks to splitheart1120, AikoAkahana, mednin, AnimexLuver4Ever, Mew Mew Pachirisu, Light-Sakura, RaveOn21now22 and Shippofan2k. Extra big thank you to Platina Birds :) **

**A few people have asked about Dawn and Paul's ages and I have to be honest, I haven't got round to asking them that yet, but I will say how old they are soon. They are young-ish parents. Lewis is about six years old, Josh is four and Amber is around three. Alfie is still baby-ish so he's about one. Hope this clears things up for people!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon :(**

**Five: Rivalry**

"So…" Lewis said, "Dad found you in Sandgem Town and you managed to stop him going out in the storm?"

"That's correct," Dawn replied.

"So when did dad realise he loved you?" Lewis asked. The five of them looked at Paul for an answer. Paul seemed to mulling over the answer in his head. "Is it anytime soon?"

"Well," Paul replied, "While in Sandgem Town, there was a visitor."

"Oh, yes," Dawn said brightly, "I remember him. He was so hot and cool. He was-"

"Can I please get on with the story?" Paul snapped. The children and their mother giggled at him.

"Jealous?" Dawn asked.

"No," Paul replied, hoisting Alfie from Lewis' arms into his own. Dawn patted her husband's shoulder.

"There, there," she comforted him, "I married you didn't I? But if he were to come back…"

"Shut up," Paul snapped.

"Daddy, the story!" Josh yelled. Paul let out a sigh.

"So the next morning, the storm had cleared…

_Dawn and Paul walked out of the lab into the empty streets of Sandgem Town. Dawn stretched._

"_It's so nice," she said. Paul nodded. It was true. The sun was out and the air was light and fresh. They walked towards the Pokémon Centre so that Paul could pick up his Honchkrow and finally fly home. Not many people were up and about yet. The streets were empty as the two of them walked to the Pokémon Centre. It was only a five minute walk and the teens soon saw the red roofed building. They walked into the building and walked to Nurse Joy's desk. The pink haired lady was shuffling papers at the desk with a bored expression on her face. She looked up as she heard Paul and Dawn approach, offering them a warm smile as a welcome._

"_I'm here to pick up my Honchkrow," Paul said, "It was sent over from the Lab last night."_

"_Oh yes, I'll be a few minutes," Nurse Joy replied. She disappeared into the room behind her. Dawn turned to Paul._

"_So you're really going home?" she asked. Paul nodded. "Wouldn't you like to stay a little longer?"_

"_Not really," Paul stated, "Not if Barry is."_

"_That I can understand," Dawn commented. _

_Barry had already leapt on Paul three times and it was only ten o'clock. Paul wasn't impressed when the blonde had tugged at Paul's cheeks, felt his arms and stroked his hair. Dawn, however, had found it hilarious._

_While they were waiting a boy had entered the Pokémon Centre. He strolled up to the counter and leant on it as he waited for Nurse Joy to return. He glanced at Paul and then at Dawn. His jaw dropped._

"_Hey," he said to Dawn. Both Paul and Dawn looked at him. "Are all Sinnoh girls this beautiful?"_

_Dawn blushed red._

"_The name's Trip Shooti," he introduced, "I just got here from the Unova region."_

_Paul looked over the boy. He had pale (almost blonde) green hair in a similar style to Paul's and grey eyes. He was smiling at Dawn in a way that made Paul irritated. Dawn, however, seemed to find this charming._

"_I'm Dawn Berlitz," she greeted, holding her hand out for him to shake. He took it gently but instead of shaking it, he raised it to his lips and kissed it. Paul's eyes narrowed at the action while Dawn just blushed wildly. "This is Paul Shinji. He's a friend's brother."_

_Now that was low._

"_Friend's brother?" he asked, "I thought we were friends."_

"_Oh… right," she replied. Trip looked over at Paul and flashed him a smirk._

"_Are you a Pokémon trainer?" Trip asked Paul. Paul nodded. "Well, then. I'd love to battle you. I came fourth in the Unova league."_

"_You beat Ketchum?" Paul asked, raising an eyebrow._

"_How did you work that out?" Dawn asked._

"_Ketchum said he was fifth," Paul replied. Dawn ran this over in her head, figuring it made sense._

"_Ketchum… wait, Ash Ketchum?" Trip asked, "You know him?"_

"_He was my travelling partner," Dawn replied._

"_My rival," Paul replied._

"_So what are his old travelling partner and rival doing together?" Trip asked._

"_We're not together," Dawn and Paul replied at the same time. Trip nodded._

"_Good," Trip said, "Because if I beat you, then I'd like to take out Dawn for a drink."_

"_That sounds great," Dawn said._

"_You're just going to ditch me?" Paul asked._

"_You're going back to Veilstone anyway," Dawn replied. She got him there. "I'd love to do that, Trip."_

"_It's a bit strange how you'd only take her out if you beat me," Paul said. Dawn glared at him._

"_What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped._

"_If he really wanted to take you out then he'd offer regardless of the outcome of our battle," Paul explained. Trip chuckled._

"_Well," he said, "I have an ego. If I can show off in front of a beautiful lady as well as crushing a rival's rival, then I'm going to do it."_

"_Here you go," Nurse Joy said as she returned. She handed Paul Honchkrow's pokéball._

"_Thank you," he replied. _

"_Ready?" Trip asked. Paul nodded. The three of them walked outside the Pokémon Centre._

"_The Professor has a battle field outside his lab," Dawn told them. The two boys nodded._

_Ten minutes later, Paul was stood at one end of the battle field while Trip was at the other end. The Professor was playing the referee so he was stood at the half way line with his hands behind his back. Dawn, Barry and Lucas were sat at the sidelines on a small bench watching._

"_Man," Barry said, "This is going to be great."_

_Lucas let out a small sigh. At least he was going to see what all the fuss was about, finally. Barry's obsession with Paul was beyond healthy but there had to be a good reason why Barry was like this. Or so Lucas figured. Lucas looked at Dawn to see her just as engrossed on the battle at Barry was. _

"_Each trainer will use three Pokémon," Rowan said, "The first to have all three Pokémon faint will loose."_

"_Right," Trip said. He threw down a Pokéball. "Go Jalorda!"_

"_Magmortar, stand by for battle," Paul replied. Trip's face fell when he saw Magmortar. Instantly he pulled out a green digital camera and snapped a picture of the strange Pokémon._

"_Wow," he commented, "A fire type. No matter. Jalorda, use Giga Drain."_

"_Fire punch," Paul replied. The two attacks collided causing a cloud of dust to appear. Jalorda was shot out of the cloud of dust. "Flamethrower."_

_Jalorda had no time to react as the fire spurt towards it. It was knocked out. Trip looked flabergastered._

"_Return," he called, holding up Jalorda's pokéball. The grass type disappeared in a stream of red light. "Alright then, Burungel, let's go."_

_A large blue Pokémon appeared on the field. Dawn blinked at it a few times. It sure did look weird, just like Jalorda before it._

"_Use Hydro Pump!" Trip yelled._

"_Flamethrower," Paul replied, calmly. The two attacks hit each other once again. Steam erupted from the collision this time. Paul smirked. "Now, Thunderbolt."_

"_What!" Trip yelled as his Pokémon was struck by a powerful Thunderbolt. "That's not… Burungel use…"_

"_Burungel is unable to battle," Rowan shouted as the blue Pokémon collapsed onto the dirt. Trip recalled his Burungel. Paul also recalled Magmortar. Trip sent out his final Pokémon._

"_Kenhorou," Trip said, releasing a bird Pokémon. Paul threw out his pokéball._

"_Torterra, stand by for battle," Paul said as the continent Pokémon appeared. Trip looked confused. _

"_Why have you sent out that thing?" Trip asked._

"_Torterra has never let me down," Paul replied. Dawn blinked a few times. What did Paul mean by that?_

"_Fine," Trip said, "Kenhorou, use Air Slash!"_

"_Leaf Storm," Paul said. It was amazing, Dawn thought, as Kenhorou landed, unconscious, on the battle field. One move and the bird Pokémon was down, even with a type advantage it had lost. Trip looked as surprised at Barry and Lucas. Paul walked up to his Torterra and patted it on the head. Dawn stood up._

"_Hey!" she yelled. Trip and Paul looked at her, as did Barry and Lucas. "You just petted your Pokémon!"_

"_Is it illegal?" Paul asked. Trip stamped on the floor._

"_I guess I lost," he said. He let out a sigh. "Still, I would like to take Dawn out for a drink."_

"_I did tell you," Paul said, "But a deal's a deal."_

_Dawn fumed. She strode over to Paul and stood in front of him, fists clenched, shoulders raised with a stormy expression on her face._

"_Who says I can't go with him?" she asked. _

"_I told you," Paul replied, "If he liked you he would ask you out regardless of the outcome of a battle."_

"_Tor tor ra torterra," Torterra said. Paul glanced at it. Trip was taking photos of the large Pokémon while Dawn was trying to understand what it was saying._

"_What did he say?" Dawn asked._

"_Nothing," Paul replied. He turned his back on Dawn. "Go if you want. I'm going home."_

_Trip walked up to Dawn and flashed her a smile, however, Dawn was too busy glaring at Paul for her to notice. Trip glanced at Paul as well. He was a powerful trainer. Really, powerful. _

"_Do you know any good…" he trailed off when he realised Dawn wasn't listening. She was petting Torterra. _

"_Mr Grumpy," she muttered. Torterra seemed to smirk at her before it began walking off, no doubt to catch up with its master. Dawn let out a sigh. "I don't get it. How can Paul and his brother be so different!"_

"_Maybe it's because they're brothers that they're so different," Trip suggested. Dawn nodded._

"_That's true," she agreed. She looked Trip up and down before she put her hands together in front of her face. "Sorry, he can be such a grumpy person."_

"_No problem," Trip replied, "So a drink?"_

"_But you lost," Dawn said._

"_I know," Trip acknowledged, "But I would still like to take you out."_

"_Sure," Dawn said, blushing again._

"_I just don't get it," Paul said aloud as he walked down a forest path, "What is her deal?"_

"_Tor tor," Torterra suggested. Paul glared back at his starter before he let out a sigh._

"_You've always had good insight into people," Paul said, facing his faithful friend, "So tell me, why do I hate that guy so much?"_

"_Torterra terra tor ra torterra," Torterra explained, "Terra terra tor torterra ra torterra."_

"_Dawn's not that special to me," Paul replied, "So I can't be…"_

"_Tor," Torterra said with a smirk. Paul blinked a few times before he face palmed himself._

"_That's what Reggie meant," he moaned as he sat down on a nearby rock. "Damn stupid girl!"_

"_Torterra," Torterra commented. Paul pulled out Torterra's pokéball and held it threateningly towards the large Pokémon._

"_One more comment and I'll return you," he warned. Torterra nodded. Paul ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh. "So this is jealousy… I hate it."_

"_Torterra," Torterra said, "Tor torterra terra tor."_

"_No," Paul said, standing up, "She obviously likes him. Let's go back home."_

"_Tor," Torterra snapped, "Torterra terra ra torterra tor tor, torterra tor ra terra."_

_The continent Pokémon turned and walked back to the lab. Paul stared after the Pokémon. Since when had Torterra scolded him? Since when had Torterra refused to do what Paul told him? Wait… Had his Pokémon just ran off? Well… left him? Paul slowly got to his feet, replaying what Torterra had just said to him over in his head._

"_No," Torterra had told him, "You always run away from these things, you have to face them now or loose her."_

_Paul shook his head. Well, his Pokémon seemed to know best. Slowly Paul walked back to the Lab. He needed to find Torterra before Reggie found out that Torterra had left him._

_Meanwhile, Dawn and Trip were sat at a small café. They were sat outside in the sun on a small round table. Dawn had a chocolate milkshake while Trip had an iced tea. _

"_You look kind of glum," Trip commented. Dawn shook her head._

"_Sorry," she said._

"_I get it," Trip said, "You obviously like that Paul guy."_

"_He just doesn't like me," Dawn replied, with a sigh, "He doesn't like anyone. It's just so annoying…"_

"_So what are you going to do?" Trip asked._

"_Well," Dawn said, thinking, "I tried making him jealous and he didn't react. I tried teasing him and that didn't work. I tried distancing myself from him and that didn't work. I guess it's no use. I should just move on."_

"_Maybe that's a good idea," Trip agreed, "You're too pretty to waste your time on someone like him."_

"_You think I'm pretty?" Dawn asked._

"_Beautiful," Trip replied. Dawn looked at Trip and then looked at her milkshake. "You're cute too. I love your hair, it's a beautiful shade."_

_Dawn burst out laughing. She couldn't help it. Trip looked at her confused. _

"_Did I say something wrong?" he asked._

"_No," Dawn replied, smiling at him, "You said everything right."_

_She got up and pecked him on the cheek._

"_You're perfect," she told him, "But just not perfect for me. Thanks for the drink. It's really helped."_

_Trip smiled and grabbed her hand, kissing it again._

"_Any time," he said. _

"_Bye, Trip," she said, "I hope we see each other again."_

"_We will," he replied, "If I'm lucky, very soon."_

_Dawn skipped off towards the nearby Pokémon Centre, leaving Trip smiling after her. Something caught his eye and he looked towards a familiar figure._

"_Hey," Trip yelled, catching Paul's attention. Paul glanced over at him before going over to the table. "I thought you were going home."_

"_My Torterra decided to go for a walk," Paul replied coldly. Trip smirked._

"_I guess you're not such a good trainer as I thought," Trip said. Paul rolled his eyes. He glanced at Dawn's empty seat and the half drunk milkshake._

"_I'd better-"_

"_She left me," Trip said airily, "I'm so embarrassed. Apparently I'm too perfect for her."_

"_Do you like shopping and pink?" Paul asked._

"_No," Trip replied._

"_Then you're not too perfect for her," Paul said dryly._

"_You're such an idiot," Trip told Paul, "You've got this great girl right in front of you and you just ignore her. It's stupid. When I get to Veilstone, I'm determined to take her with me."_

"_It's not so hard," Paul remarked, "She's remarkably light."_

"_Yeah, you're right," Trip said, "She's just playing hard to get."_

_Trip stood up and put some money on the table._

"_I'd better be off," Trip said, "I've got people to beat. See you around, Paul."_

"_Hn," Paul replied. Paul let out a sigh as Trip walked off in one direction. He was kind of relieved to see that Dawn had pretty much snuffed him. It was true, Trip was definitely different from Paul. He seemed to be a better version of Paul. Paul closed his eyes, thinking. _

"_You're not gone yet?" _

"_Torterra wanted to go for a walk," Paul replied without missing a beat._

"_Oh yes," Dawn teased, "Torterra wanted to stay."_

_She walked in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest._

"_You just wanted to see how my date went with Trip, didn't you?" she asked. Paul looked at her. She was smiling at him in a proud way. Slowly her smile faded as he continued to stare at her. "What's wrong?"_

"_Nothing," Paul replied, "When are you returning to Veilstone?"_

"_Why do you ask?" Dawn asked._

"_Reggie still has Bunneary," Paul stated. Dawn looked at the floor._

"_I'll have him send her to me," Dawn said quietly, "There's not really much for me to go back to in Veilstone."_

"_I thought Reggie was your friend," Paul said. Dawn stamped her foot._

"_You jerk!" she yelled. She stormed past him. Paul blinked twice before following her. She noticed him following her and she stopped. "What?"_

"_I should ask you that," Paul commented, "Usually there's a reason why I'm a jerk."_

"_Because…" Dawn said, "You… It doesn't matter. If you want to go home so much then go."_

"_Alright," Paul said, "Although I don't feel like flying there. I may walk a while."_

"_Why's that?" Dawn asked._

"_There's nothing for me to hurry back to," Paul said, "Besides, training on the way will be better than flying back and training there."_

"_Training, training, training," Dawn snapped, "Is that all you ever think about?"_

"_No," Paul replied, "Some times I think about other things. Like where do Starly sleep at night? How come a Teddiursa looks so innocent and evolves into Ursaring? What do my Pokémon dream about?"_

"_Always Pokémon then?" Dawn said._

"_I try not to think about myself," Paul replied, "There's nothing to think about apart from what a grumpy, cold hearted jerk I am."_

_He rubbed his head._

"_You really make me feel inferior you know," Paul told her. He looked round, wondering which way Torterra had gone. "How Torterra has put up with me so long without running off before I'll never know."_

_Dawn twirled around._

"_Torterra ran off?" she asked._

"_He can't exactly run," Paul replied dryly, "He scolded me and left."_

"_I can't say I don't blame him," Dawn said. Paul shrugged._

"_He'll be fine on his own," Paul said, "But Reggie would kill me for leaving him here."_

"_You'd leave him here?" Dawn screamed. Paul flinched at her tone._

"_Of course not," he yelled back. It was the first time he'd ever raised his voice at her with such a tone in his voice. She blinked a few times as he rubbed his head. _

"_But you'd leave everything else?" she asked._

"_Only if I was told to go," Paul snapped. He turned and marched off towards some trees, knowing Torterra would prefer the forest rather than anything else. Stupid girl. Stupid Troublesome girl. He wanted to go home right now so that he could get away from her. "When I get back to Veilstone, I'm never coming back here again!"_

"_Is that what you want?"_

_OK, he wasn't expecting Dawn to be behind him, let alone listening to him. Paul stopped walking and let out a sigh._

"_What do you want, Troublesome?" he asked._

"_I don't know," Dawn muttered, "I thought I did when I was talking to Trip… but now…"_

"_Trip?" Paul asked, "He said you ditched him."_

"_I did didn't I?" Dawn said, tears falling down her face, "I wish I hadn't. I guess I was wrong. I knew I should have gone with the guy who was nice to me rather than think the guy that hated me liked me."_

_What was she talking about?_

"_Who hates you?" Paul asked._

"_You do," she replied, "You can't wait to get rid of me."_

_Paul let out a sigh as he walked over to her. He put a hand on her shoulder._

"_If I wanted to get rid of you, you would've been out the house the first night I saw you," Paul told her. Dawn stared up into Paul's eyes. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "The only reason I wanted to go so quickly was because I didn't like Trip."_

"_Why don't you like Trip?" Dawn asked._

"_He's… everything I'm not," Paul replied honestly, "I couldn't bare watching him act round everyone. And the way you were blushing. It annoyed me."_

"_You were… jealous?" Dawn asked._

"_Yes," Paul answered. She began to smile at him. Suddenly she hugged him. Paul gently put one arm round her, feeling at a loss of what to do. He heard her crying once more but this time she was crying into his shoulder. Paul put his other arm round her. "Why are you crying?"_

"_I don't… I don't know," she hiccupped, "But I know… I'm happy you care."_

"_Tor."_

"_Go away," Paul snapped at his old friend. Dawn giggled lightly into Paul's chest as she glanced Torterra's form in the nearby trees. Torterra hadn't really ran off, he'd just walked off and then stayed hidden so he could keep an eye on his trainer. Paul pulled out Torterra's pokéball and returned it before it could do anything else. Paul returned his attention onto Dawn for a few minutes. She was hugging him tightly._

"_Please stay a while," she said. Paul nodded._

"So you then told her you loved her right?" Josh asked. The three children leaned forwards in anticipation. Dawn scratched her chin. Paul folded his arms.

"No," he said. The three children fell backwards onto their backs with their feet up in the air. Dawn looked up at the ceiling while Paul just looked at Alfie in his lap. The baby was waving at his older siblings while sucking on a dummy.

"Daddy is useless," Amber commented.

"But if you didn't tell her then, when did you tell her?" Lewis asked, sitting back up in his usual position. Paul thought for a minute. Josh and Amber sat upright, eager to see what their father was going to say.

"Jealousy and love are two different things," Paul explained, "Just because I was jealous didn't mean I loved your mother just yet."

"What your father means is," Dawn said brightly, "It was just the beginning."

Amber looked at Josh, Josh looked at Amber. They both looked at Lewis. Lewis looked back at them. Slowly the three of them glared at their parents.

"MORE!" they yelled.

**I have no idea how out of character Trip is but I thought using Trip would be better than using Gary. I like Gary too much to have him enter a rivalry with Paul. I like to think Paul and Gary would get along to annoy Ash. Anyway… Trip shall return later on in the story. **

**Thanks again to all my wonderful reviewers! Sorry for the length of this chapter T_T but I think it needed it. There may be a slight delay in the next update for this since I'm not sure when I'm getting home tomorrow night.**

**RSx**


	6. Chapter 6

**Happy Valentine's Day! I did mean to post a different chapter today but my Plot Fairy said no. So here's what you've got. Thanks to: Mew Mew Pachirisu, Macy Webber, Laight-Sakura, mednin, AikoAkahana, splitheart1120. PlatinaBirds, RaveOn21now22, bunnybool612, LuckyTigger, D3sstorjo, shippofan2k, AnimexLuver4Ever and Midnightmoon602. This list keeps getting longer and longer! Here have some tomo-choko on me *hands cyber chocolate*. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Paul, Dawn or any of the Pokémon characters. If I did, the series would be based on Paul and Dawn in Johto (Thanks to LuckTigger who put that idea in my head) with a little Barry fanboy on the side… **

**Anyway… Enjoy!**

**Six: Cousins**

Dawn returned into the lounge carrying a small plate with a sandwich on it. She passed it to her husband as she passed him by the stairs. The children were sat eating their own sandwiches on the floor. Paul had put Alfie to bed while Dawn made lunch and had just returned when his wife had got his sandwich. The two adults took up their places on the sofa.

"So, did dad stay with you?" Lewis asked.

"He did," Dawn replied, "And then he flew with me to Veilstone a few days after. It was the Veilstone festival you see and I wanted to go. It was such a lovely night, one I wished for a very long time I could reply time and time again."

"Really?" Paul asked, "Why's that? Everything went horribly wrong that night."

"Horribly perfect," Dawn corrected her husband. The three children looked confused.

"How can something be horrible and perfect, mummy?" Amber asked. Dawn smiled at her daughter.

"Well," Dawn said, "Sometimes the things that seem wrong are actually right."

"Reggie wanted to go to the festival with Maylene," Paul said, "So Reggie decided I should go with someone too…

"_You're asking me to the festival?" Dawn asked Paul, not quite believing what he had just said. Paul nodded._

"_Reggie's taking Maylene," Paul stated, "He suggested I take someone."_

"_And you thought me?" Dawn asked._

"_There's not many people I can ask," Paul admitted, "But if you're already going with someone, I understand."_

"_No," Dawn said, "I'm not going with anyone else. I'd be more than happy to go with you."_

_The two of them were sat in one of the rooms at the gym. Paul was bored and so was Dawn to a certain degree. Reggie had just wanted to 'pop' in but they had been there an hour at least now. Dawn began playing with the hem of her dress. She looked up at Paul._

"_Have you realised we haven't argued as much recently?" she asked. _

"_No, I hadn't," he replied, "I thought we'd stayed the same."_

"_We banter," Dawn admitted, "But not proper arguments."_

"_There's a difference?" Paul asked. Dawn smiled at him._

"_To me there is," she replied, "It's nice that we can be like this."_

"_Like what?"_

"_Like… friends," Dawn said. She looked down at her dress, biting her lip hard. Paul could tell she was thinking something but didn't want to say anything. _

"_What's wrong?" he asked. Dawn went slightly pink in the cheeks._

"_Well… It's just that going to the festival together will be like… a date," she explained. _

"_Is that a problem?" Paul asked, "I'm sure you could ask Maylene to go with you and I could always go with Reggie if you feel uncomfortable."_

"_No, it's not that," Dawn said, growing a deeper shade of pink, "What if it wasn't like a date? What if is was a… date?"_

_Paul remained silent. Dawn wasn't looking at him anymore. She was wringing her hands together in a nervous sort of way. Paul leaned his head back on the wall behind him. They were sat across from each other so Paul could her expression clearly._

"_Do you want it to be a date?" he asked. She turned red. Paul smirked. "Then it's a date."_

"_You mean it?" Dawn asked, head snapping up. Paul nodded. "Now I have to decide what I have to wear… I need new clothes. What would be suitable for a festival?"_

"_Clothes," Paul replied dryly. Dawn shot him a glare. "I don't see why you should worry."_

"_Why's that?" Dawn snapped._

"_You'd probably look good in anything you wear," Paul said. Dawn's glare melted._

"_Really?" she asked._

"_It seemed like the wisest thing to say," Paul replied, closing his eyes and smirking at her. Dawn slid her boot off her foot and threw it at him. It hit him right between the eyes and hard too. "Ow!"_

"_Serves you right," Dawn told him, "Making fun of me."_

_Paul grabbed her boot and got to his feet. Dawn's eyes widened as she realised he was going to run off with it._

"_GIVE IT BACK!" was all that Maylene and Reggie heard while they drank tea with Lucario. Reggie sweatdropped._

"_Well, them getting along lasted a whole of a week," he remarked to Maylene. Maylene merely smiled._

"_It's how their relationship is," she said, "Paul's aura is very calm and collected while Dawn is boisterous. When you mix those two auras together, the by product is confrontation."_

_Reggie nodded like he was agreeing with her. Maylene picked up her cup and looked at her reflection in the water._

"_Even if they were married and had children, they would still bicker and banter," Maylene continued, "Because that's the foundation of their relationship. If Paul and I were placed together, then it would never work because I'm too shy and wouldn't be able cope with his mean comments. Dawn isn't like that. She'll challenge him whenever he says things to her. Because she does this, Paul doesn't try to walk over her like he would do with me. They're relatively on common ground."_

"_You've got a lot of insight into this," Reggie remarked. Maylene smiled at him but she pointed at Lucario._

"_It's what Lucario thinks," she admitted, "And Torterra. Those two are quite good friends."_

"_I never knew that," Reggie said, blinking twice._

"_Ow! What was that for?" Paul's voice yelled._

"_You stole my boot!"_

"_You threw it at me!"_

_Maylene giggled as the two voices echoed in the relatively silent gym. It had been quiet for a while but Maylene hadn't minded. It gave her an opportunity to relax and recharge her body and mind. Besides, watching Paul and Dawn's relationship grow was more than interesting. _

"_Because you were being mean!"_

"_And that surprises you, because…? OW!"_

_Reggie let out a long sigh. Lucario got to his feet and left the two humans so he could go and find the two teens. The last thing the gym needed was for a challenger to come across Dawn and Paul while they were fighting. While everyone had grown used to their banter, a challenger would probably run off scared. _

_Lucario walked down the halls of the traditional styled gym until he found them. They were outside the gym in one of the courtyards just by the entrance. Paul was holding Dawn's boot in his hand while Dawn was hopping around on one foot. Lucario let out a groan as Dawn jumped on Paul. She missed completely and landed face first on the floor. Paul walked over to her, smirking. He stopped in front of her._

"_Give up?" he asked. Dawn looked up at him, smiling. She grabbed his two ankles and yanked him. Because he wasn't expecting it, Paul wobbled, then stumbled, then fell over a few metres away from Dawn. Paul seemed a little dazed as he sat on his backside, having fallen that way. Dawn got onto her hands and knees and crawled to Paul. She reached over him in an attempt to get back his boot. Paul saw what was doing. He left go of the boot and grabbed her arms instead. Dawn looked up at him. They glared at each other._

"_Hello?" a voice asked. Lucario, who had been amused by Dawn and Paul's sparring that he hadn't noticed a boy walk up to the door of the gym. The boy peered into the gym and then through into the courtyard._

"_Paul? What are you doing?"_

_Paul glanced over at the boy. The green hair, the green eyes, the purple top with weird green trousers. It could only be one person: Drew Hayden. Drew was smirking at Paul. Paul glanced back at Dawn, realising suddenly how close she was and what it looked like. Dawn too, seemed to suddenly realise the same things. _

"_Please, don't let me interrupt," Drew taunted, "You two look so into it."_

_Slowly, Paul reached for the boot. He flung it at Drew, hitting him square in the face. Drew fell backwards onto the floor with a satisfying thud. Even Lucario looked impressed._

"_That was mean," Dawn remarked. Paul grunted. Dawn climbed off Paul, even though she couldn't remember climbing on him in the first place. She back on her knees, watching as Drew began to move once again. Suddenly the green teen sat up, holding the boot in one hand._

"_What's the big idea?" Drew snapped. Paul was already on his feet. He extended a hand to Dawn and helped her up. Drew slowly got up, rubbing the back of his head with his spare hand. "That's going to leave a mark. Have I got a huge red boot print on my face?"_

"_Are you saying my feet are big!" Dawn yelled. Drew jumped back. He looked at the boot then at Dawn._

"_Well, these are slightly chunky boots," Drew commented. Dawn's eyes narrowed. She slipped off the other boot and launched it at Drew. Once again Drew was smacked in the face with the sole of a boot. He landed with another satisfying thud on his back. Lucario had the good sense to leave by this point. He didn't want to be caught up in any kind of murder plot. Paul on the other hand was surprised at Dawn's reaction. Suddenly, her anger disappeared and she straightened up._

"_Who is he anyway?" she asked. _

"_My cousin, Drew," Paul replied. Dawn's jaw dropped._

"_I attacked… your cousin?" she asked. She gulped loudly as she looked at the unconscious green haired teen on the wooden floor. Paul nodded as he slid his hands into his pockets. _

"_Drew?" it was a girl's voice this time. It sounded panicked. "Who threw boots at Drew?"_

_A brunette ran into the building and stopped dead when she caught sight, not of Drew, but Dawn._

"_Dawn!" _

"_May!"_

_The two girls hurried to hug each other, laughing. Paul raised an eyebrow as the two girls pulled apart. Dawn looked at May. She was wearing blue variation of the clothes she wore last time. Her green bandana was gone and replaced by a pale blue one. Her top was the same blue colour. _

"_What are you doing here?" May asked Dawn, looking at Paul. _

"_I'm friends with Reggie," Dawn replied. Paul rolled his eyes, having being pawned off as a brother of a friend once again. Really, that was starting to annoy him. He stepped onto the wooden floor of the gym and walked over Drew so he could go and find Reggie._

_May watched Paul leave with an interested expression on her face. She looked back at Dawn, smiling._

"_Who's he?" May asked, "He's kind of cool looking."_

"_Cool!" Drew sat up quickly, "You think he's cool?"_

"_And handsome too," May added. Drew's jaw dropped._

"_You think _he's _handsome?" Drew yelled, "He's moody and grumpy and mean!"_

"_Doesn't stop him from being handsome," May said. Paul returned a few seconds later, hands in his pockets. Drew glared at him like he wanted Paul to burst into flames any minute._

"_What do you want?" Drew asked._

"_I decided it would be stupid to leave you alone with Troublesome," Paul replied calmly._

"_Why?" Drew asked, "You scared she might run off with me?"_

"_I'd be stupid for me to go," Paul explained with a smirk, "Because then I wouldn't be able to watch when she beat you up."_

"_Hey, you know you grumpy bag of bones," Drew snapped, "You can be so horrible at times."_

"_Can I have my boots back?" Dawn asked, "My feet are getting cold."_

_Paul picked up Dawn's boots. He used them to whack Drew round the head one final time before he handed them back to her. Drew rubbed his head where the boots had hit him. May giggled at Paul._

"_So you two are related?" May asked, "I wouldn't be able to tell."_

"_We're cousins," Drew snapped, "We've got similarities."_

"_Such as?" May asked._

"_His mother was my aunt," Drew said, "Like my mother was his aunt."_

"_That's probably the only one," Paul said, "I'm a trainer, you're a co-ordinator. I've got purple hair, you're a grass-head. I prefer the quiet, you love your fan girls. I live in Sinnoh, you live in Hoenn."_

"_I'm super cool, you're super cold," Drew continued, "I'm an only child, you've got a brother. I'm great with the ladies, you don't like girls. I have great fashion sense, you most clearly don't."_

"_Wow," Dawn said, "You to really don't have a lot in common."_

"_Apart from our mothers and birthdays, no we don't," Paul told her._

"_You two have the same birthdays?" May asked. Paul and Drew nodded. "That's weird."_

"_So," Drew said, looking at his cousin, "What were you doing when I found you?"_

_Paul's eye's widened for a split second before he closed his eyes and folded his arms over his chest. Dawn blinked a few times before putting her hands on her hips._

"_Paul stole my boot," she told Drew._

"_After she threw it at me," Paul added._

"_After you…" Dawn stopped, "Why did I throw my boot at you?"_

"_I can't remember," Paul said with a shrug._

"_Yeah, that's all good but it doesn't explain the bit of steaminess I saw between you two," Drew said. _

"_Steaminess?" May, Dawn and Paul asked, each with varying pitch and tone levels. Drew rubbed his nose in a superior sort of way. Paul glared at his cousin, demanding an answer. May had a pleading look on her face. Dawn was just plain embarrassed._

"_Looking desperately into each others eyes, him holding her into his body, she climbing over his legs to get closer to him," Drew said like he was talking about a romance book. _

"_You two are an item?" May asked Dawn._

"_No, it's not like that at all," Dawn replied quickly, "I just… know his brother."_

_Paul rolled his eyes. Drew glanced at Paul with a weird look on his face. The two cousins caught each others eyes but didn't say anything. They looked back at the girls._

"_So, Paul," May said, looking at Paul, "You're a Pokémon trainer? What kind of Pokémon do you have?"_

"_Yeah," Drew agreed, "I'll battle you to see if you're any stronger."_

"_I bet you have really strong Pokémon," May continued, "You look like a good, strong trainer."_

_Paul rolled his eyes. He threw a Pokéball at Drew in a lofty sort of way. He began to walk away from the group._

"_Battle yourself," Paul told his cousin, "You'd still loose like."_

"_Hey!" Drew snapped, following his cousin down the hallway, "I resent that you know."_

_May and Dawn giggled at the boys. Dawn led May to meet Reggie and Maylene. No doubt the boys would be gone for a while. _

_Despite what the girls thought, the boys weren't fighting. Paul walked out of the back of the gym where there were some rocks and trees. The area was usually where Maylene and her students would train on summer days. Paul had climbed into a tree and was sat looking at the gym. Drew had quickly found Paul in his hiding spot and was quickly climbing the tree so that the two could chat._

"_So what's the deal?" Drew asked as he settled himself on a branch. Paul glanced down at Drew. "She says she's Reggie's friend and you get annoyed?"_

_Paul leant his head against the tree, but remained silent. Drew had a concerned expression on his face. It wasn't like Paul to be so… depressed. Drew was used to Paul being depressing on a person, not him being the depressed one._

"_So how long have you felt this way about her?" Drew asked, "You know. Annoyance at her being there, boredom if she's not there, being blackmailed emotionally into doing stuff, arguing for the sake of talking to her."_

"_Not long," Paul replied._

"_You do know she's like two years younger than you, right?" Drew asked. Paul shot him a dark look. "What? I thought I'd better mention it. So you like her?"_

"_I put up with her," Paul said. _

"_Which means in Paul language, you like her," Drew said, "You have no clue about these things do you?"_

"_I made a deal with Reggie," Paul stated, "That if I had a girlfriend for six months before he confessed to Maylene, then I wouldn't have to look after his children."_

"_So what's that got to do with anything?" Drew asked._

"_Troublesome knows about the deal," Paul explained, "She'd probably think I would be using her for the deal."_

"_Then prove to her that you aren't," Drew said, "If you like her then you've got to try."_

"_It's simple for you," Paul told Drew, "She wouldn't even like a guy like me."_

"_Don't say that," Drew snapped, "You've got some things going for you. Like… your Pokémon are strong so you can protect her… you probably use the same straightners as she does…"_

"_For the last time," Paul snarled, "I don't use hair straighteners."_

_Paul kicked Drew's branch, making his cousin wobble and fall out of the tree. _

"_Hey!" Drew yelled whilst laying on the grass, "That could've seriously hurt me."_

"_Fortunately your ego stopped your fall," Paul said with a roll of the eyes._

"_I have a healthy ego," Drew told Paul as he got to his feet. He climbed back to his branch and perched once again. "So what are you going to do?"_

"_About your ego?" Paul asked._

"_No, Dawn," Drew corrected him._

"_I'm not sure," Paul said, "We are going to the festival together."_

"_Oh!" Drew gasped, "I forgot about the festival. I need to… Wait a minute. You two are going to the festival, together? Like a date?"_

"_Not like a date," Paul replied, "A date."_

_Drew tugged Paul's foot, dislodging the purple haired teen and sending him plummeting to the grass below. Paul grunted as he hit the hard ground. He glanced up at his cousin._

"_AND YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T KNOW HOW SHE FELT! YOU IDIOT!"_

"Uncle Drew is more stupider than daddy," Josh commented, folding his arms and nodding his head. Amber nodded but Lewis didn't do anything.

"Drew is an idiot," Paul agreed. Dawn elbowed her husband hard in the ribs. "He is. If it weren't for him-"

"You would have never done what you did at the festival," Dawn said. Paul thought about this for a minute until he nodded.

"What happened?" Amber asked, "What happened? What happened? What happened?"

Her brothers edged away from her as she waved her arms around to emphasise her words. Paul looked up at the ceiling once more and Dawn looked across the other side of the room. Their three children stared at them with a heated gaze, demanding to know what was going on. There was a prolonged period of silence until Alfie began crying upstairs. Dawn jumped to her feet before her husband could even react.

"I'll-go-get-Alfie," she said hurriedly, "You-continue-with-the-story-'K?"

She zoomed up the stairs, leaving Paul in a momentary daze while he tried to piece together what had just happened. He was suddenly aware his children were glaring at him.

Now this was going to be interesting…

**So I was wrong about the rehearsals, they don't start until Wednesday but during my spare time (i.e. when I'm sat around doing nothing) I'll write or type and update as soon as I get home :) Bye!**

**RSx**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks to splitheart1120, AikoAkahana, Light-Sakura, Midnightmoon602, AnimexLuver4Ever, LuckyTigger and Raveon21now22 for reviewing :) Hehe! Well, here's part two of the festival. How will Dawn and Paul deal with their first 'date'? Read to find out!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon :(**

Seven:

_Dawn was fretting about the dress she was wearing. It was the night of festival and she had tried on three outfits already. She melted onto her floor, comical tears pouring down her cheeks. She hugged a hanger close to her body. May poked her head round the door._

"_Is something wrong?" May asked._

"_I can't do it!" Dawn yelled, "I can't find the right clothes."_

"_That outfit looks nice," May commented at the dress Dawn was wearing. It was red in colour with frills at the bottom in an orange colour. Dawn looked at May._

"_It clashes with my eyes," Dawn snapped, "And Paul hates orange."_

"_Oh," May said. May walked further into the room and looked through Dawn's wardrobe. She pulled out a few things, asking Dawn's opinion on it but every time Dawn would shake her head. _

"_I'm going to say I have a cold," Dawn said finally, admitting defeat. May patted her friend on the shoulder._

"_I'm sure Paul won't mind what you're wearing," May said._

"_He might not but I do," Dawn replied, "If I don't look my best then I won't feel my best and I want to be my best for Paul."_

_May thought for a minute before a smile appeared on her face._

"_What makes you fell confident?" May asked. Dawn thought about the question for a minute. "You know, when you go on stage for a contest, what makes you think you can do it?"_

"_You're telling me to treat Paul like a contest?" Dawn asked. May nodded. Dawn smiled. "That's a brilliant way to think about it. If I make it a casual contest then… I know exactly what to wear."_

"_Glad I could help," May said as she left Dawn to get changed. Dawn danced round the room as she pulled out her outfit. She stopped in front of the mirror._

"_This will be perfect," she told her reflection._

_Meanwhile at Reggie's house a similar thing was happening._

"_How about this one?" Drew asked Paul. Paul was sat on his bed looking quite bored as Drew attempted to get dressed. Drew was holding up a green blazer. Paul shook his head. Drew flustered and went back to looking through his suitcase hurriedly. Paul had been dressed for a while. He was wearing jeans, a black shirt and a purple jacket. Drew was being totally over the top with his outfit._

"_Are you sure you're not actually a girl?" Paul asked. Drew stopped looking through his clothes so that he could shoot Paul a glare. Paul didn't react to the glare._

"_I don't know how you've decided on your clothes," Drew said, "You're the one going on the date and you're so calm."_

"_I don't care much for clothes," Paul replied. He tugged at his shirt, glancing at it in distain. OK, he had fussed slightly more than usual with his clothes, but he was reasonably happy with what he was wearing. No doubt Dawn would be fussing._

"_You got her a present?" Drew asked. Paul blinked._

"_Why do I need to get her a present?" Paul said. _

"_To show her how much you loooove her," Drew teased. Paul thought about this for a minute. Did he need to give her a present? He wasn't sure. Drew looked at his cousin, confused and concerned about the sudden silence. "You're actually nervous about this aren't you?"_

"_Not particularly," Paul replied. Should he be? Drew stood up and pointed at Paul._

"_You have nothing to worry about," Drew yelled, "I Love Master Drew shall help you!"_

"_Now I am worried," Paul commented, "You can start by getting dressed so we can go already."_

"_Right," Drew nodded. _

_Twenty minutes later both boy walked downstairs. Reggie was stood talking to Maylene. She had scrapped her usual attire and was wearing jeans and a blue top. She also was wearing a short sleeved sports top that somehow went with the rest of her clothes. On her feet were some simple sandals. Reggie was wearing something similar to his usual clothes, although his top was a lighter salmon colour and he had the sleeves down to his wrists._

_Drew put his hands in his pockets. He had finally decided on a purple shirt and black jeans. Drew looked at Paul and winked at him._

"_You two look good," Maylene said with a smile on her face, "I sent Lucario to pick up the girls since we were running a bit late."_

"_We're late?" Drew asked._

"_It took you an hour to decide on your clothes," Paul snapped. The two of them glared at each other. Reggie just laughed._

"_Well, we should get going," Reggie told them. The four of them left the house and began walking towards the festival where the meteorites were in the park. Maylene and Reggie were happily talking about Pokémon while Drew and Paul walked in silence behind them. Drew spotted May before anyone. He waved at her, yelling her name. The brunette turned and waved back, a large smile on her face. She dragged Dawn towards the guys and Maylene, Lucario following them. _

"_You guys finally made it," May said, "I take it Drew took a total of three hours to get ready, huh?"_

_Reggie and Paul were silent as they looked at Drew. Drew flushed red before he yelled at May, claiming that he didn't take three hours._

"_Actually," Reggie said, rubbing his head, "It was more like three and a half."_

"_A-ha," May said. She was wearing her blue bandana with a light blue dress and sandals. A navy blue belt hung round her waist. "Let's go! I want to find some food!"_

_May grabbed Drew by the arm and led him off. Maylene and Reggie followed leaving Dawn and Paul on their own. Dawn was looking nervously at the floor. Paul looked at her. She was wearing a denim skirt to her knees with a purple top. It was sleeveless but had a high neck. Her usual yellow clips had been replaced by purple ones. She was wearing purple ballet pumps on her feet. Paul felt like he should complement her on the way she looked but was at a loss at what to say._

"_Purple suits you," he said plainly, making her look at him. She smiled._

"_You think?" she asked doing a twirl. Paul nodded and began to follow his brother and cousin. Dawn walked beside him, smiling happily. She looked around in awe as she saw the hue of Chinese lanterns hanging on strings round the park. She grabbed Paul's arm and pulled him along faster. _

"_It's beautiful," she gasped as she looked around all the stalls. There were some selling food while others were game stalls. Dawn looked round in amazement until she realised she had linked arms with Paul. Paul didn't seem to mind. They walked together, realising that Reggie and Maylene as well as May and Drew had disappeared. _

"_Where do you think they will have gone?" Dawn asked. Paul shrugged._

"_Who cares?" he asked, "The less we're around my family the better."_

"_You're so mean," Dawn told him. _

"_No doubt Drew is planning something," Paul muttered, "He often gets carried away with things like this."_

"_What do mean things like this?" Dawn asked confused. Paul shook his head._

"_Doesn't matter," he replied, "Just be careful if you see him."_

"_OK," Dawn said with a nod. _

_The two of them walked round the stalls. Dawn attempted a few of the games although she had to admit she wasn't very good at any of them. Paul watched her, smirk on his face, as she attempted to hook a water balloon. She admitted defeat. Paul stepped forwards._

"_The pink one no doubt?" he asked. She nodded as she watched him skilfully pick the balloon with the small hook. He held it up and handed it to her. Dawn thanked him. _

"_How did you do that?" she asked as they walked away from the stall. Paul put his hands in his pockets and shrugged._

"_I've had a lot of practice," he told her, "Drew used to be useless at it and used to cry whenever he lost. Reggie couldn't do it either."_

"_I thought Reggie would be good at that," Dawn said, "Since he has a lot more patience than you."_

"_Are you saying I'm impatient?" Paul asked. Dawn nodded._

"_Yes," she replied, "Because of the way you train your Pokémon."_

"_You would say that," he said, "I train my Pokémon so they know they are strong quickly. That means using strong moves quicker. They get the confidence to do well early and it pays off."_

"_I suppose I never looked at it like that," Dawn said, "You're mean at them so they're not scared by mean looking Pokémon while battling, aren't you?"_

"_If they can deal with me, they can deal with a hundred Ursaring," Paul said with a nod. Dawn giggled at him. She grabbed his arm once more and hugged it. Paul glanced down at her. She was smiling happily. _

"_Yo!" Drew's voice rang out in front of the pair. Both of them stopped and stared at Drew. "What are you two up to?" _

"_Nothing," Dawn replied._

"_Well, have you seen the meteorites?" Drew asked, pointing to his left, "They've dressed them up."_

"_Dressed them up?" Dawn asked, looking at Paul for an explanation. He let out a soft sigh._

"_They do things to them year after year," Paul explained, "Like put lights on them or flowers or something."_

"_Can we go and have a look?" Dawn asked. Paul nodded. Drew walked on the other side of Paul._

"_Things are going well, no?" Drew whispered in his cousin's ear. Paul glared at Drew but didn't reply. Dawn hadn't heard anything and Paul wanted it to stay that way. Drew merely shrugged and went on to tell Dawn about previous festivals. Her eyes lit up when he told her about the Pokémon display later in the evening._

_Soon they had arrived where the meteors were laid in the ground. This year they had been decorated in lights. The lights were placed so the meteors looked like Pokémon. Dawn pulled Paul over to one that looked like Piplup's head. _

"_Wow," she said, "It's so cool."_

_She looked further along to see one in the shape of a Turtwig. She pulled Paul along again. She was surprised that he didn't complain at being dragged but thought it would be best not to do it again. She let go of his arm as she looked at a Jigglypuff styled one. These were really good but you could still see the meteor underneath the lights. It was amazing. Dawn turned round and walked into Paul accidentally. She stumbled and was about to fall when he caught her and steadied her. She sweat-dropped._

"_Sorry," she said. Paul led her over to another meteorite. She looked down at it to see it was a Pikachu designed one. Dawn smiled at it widely. "It looks just like Ash's Pikachu."_

"_Do you miss travelling with him?" Paul asked. Dawn's smile faded a little._

"_I do and I don't," she replied honestly, "I like being a stylist. After going to Hoenn on my own I decided I didn't like travelling much. I missed the company back then."_

_Paul nodded slowly. Dawn looked at him, smile reappearing._

"_But now I have you and Reggie and Maylene to keep me company so I don't mind," she said. Paul felt himself smile slightly._

"_Travelling is hard when you're on your own," Paul commented as they walked past more meteorites, "Reggie never travelled on his own."_

"_I bet you followed him everywhere," Dawn said, but Paul shook his head. _

"_When Reggie started his journey, mum was still around so I stayed at home," Paul explained, "Reggie travelled with some people from Johto. When mum died, I joined him to go to the Kanto Battle Frontier. His friend was the one who gave me Turtwig."_

"_It must have been bad your mother dying," Dawn said sadly._

"_It was hard," Paul admitted, "But one of the people Reggie travelled with took really good care of me. She was always nice to me."_

"_She?" Dawn asked. Dawn looked down at the floor. Paul's eyes had lit up when he had been talking about this girl. Maybe that's why he didn't like her, he was already in love with someone else._

"_She was there when Reggie and I had a massive argument," Paul went on, oblivious to Dawn's expression, "We had quite a big fall out when I set off on my journey. She said she would travel with me and do the league with me."_

"_I bet you really loved her," Dan muttered. Paul nodded._

"_She left me after the first gym battle," he stated, "Because she knew I would be better on my own or with people my own age. She was right. She was far too strong to be travelling with a rookie like me. She flattened me in the semis that year."_

"_But you still love her?" Dawn asked, stopping suddenly. Paul looked at her. He was confused suddenly by her reaction._

"_Of course," he replied, "The same reason I still love Reggie even after our argument. Sparrow's like my sister. I could never stop loving her over something so small."_

"_Sister?" Dawn asked._

"_She's like five years older than me," Paul explained, "She took over from mum."_

"_Oh," Dawn said, forcing a smile onto her face. There was an odd silence for a few seconds before Dawn brushed past Paul. "I'm going to find May."_

_Paul followed her wondering why she had suddenly gone so quiet. True he did feel a little stupid opening up to her like he did, especially about his mother. He wondered briefly how Sparrow was doing but no doubt she was still running rings round some poor champion somewhere. Dawn had spotted May and was running towards her. Paul noticed a cart rolling towards her. Fortunately he was quick._

_He grabbed onto her waste and pulled her out of the way of the cart. They landed backwards on the floor. Dawn blinked as she landed on the floor, noticing the cart for the first time. She gulped. She would have been flattened by the cart if Paul hadn't got her out of the way. It wasn't like it was out of control either. It was being pushed by two Machokes since it was so huge. Dawn glanced at Paul, realising she was sat on him._

"_Sorry," she muttered as she stood up. Paul got to his feet and dusted his trousers off. _

"_You should take more care," he told her, "I would hate for you to be flattened."_

"_Why?" she asked._

"_It's a pain filling out police reports," he replied. _

"_That's so mean!" Dawn yelled at him. May walked towards them, recognising Dawn's yell. In her arms there was an assortment of different festival foods which May ate as she watched the argument between Paul and Dawn bounce back and forth._

"_You two argue a lot," May commented. Paul and Dawn looked at the brunette to find she had a kebab in her mouth, eating it in an Ash like way. "You must really get along well."_

"_How did you come to that conclusion?" Paul asked._

"_You're still here, right?" May said, "You're still talking to each other."_

_Dawn and Paul looked at each other. That much was true. Even though they argued a lot they still hung around together a whole lot. May was chewing on something else by this time. Dawn sweat-dropped._

"_Where's Drew?" Dawn asked. May shrugged._

"_Beats me," May replied, "I suppose we should go and find them."_

_The three of them walked through the festival. Dawn was walking beside Paul, still feeling a little upset about before. May was still eating food as she walked. It was no surprise when she walked into someone._

"_I'm so sorry," she said quickly._

"_Get away from me you hillbilly."_

"_I'm not a hillbilly!" May yelled. Dawn and Paul smirked at each other but continued walking, pretending not to know May at all._

"_Hey, Dawn?" _

_Dawn turned round to see Trip stood staring at her. Dawn waved at him before walking towards him._

"_Hi Trip," she greeted, "You made it to Veilstone already?"_

"_Yeah, it was easy," Trip told her. Paul walked over to them, generally annoyed at the sudden appearance of Trip. Trip eyed Paul cautiously. The two boys soon entered a staring contest. May looked between the two boys before sweat-dropping._

"_You three know each other?" May asked._

"_We met in Sandgem Town," Dawn explained quickly, "Trip challenged Paul to a battle and then took me out for a drink."_

"_Wow," May commented, "Explains the rivalry."_

"_So what are you doing here?" Dawn asked, disrupting a very intense staring match. Trip didn't look at her._

"_I came to challenge Veilstone's worthless gym leader to see if she was any good," Trip explained._

"_Veilstone's 'worthless' gym leader happens to be a very good friend of my brother," Paul growled._

"_If she was any good, why should she need your brother?" Trip asked. Dawn honestly though Paul was going to punch Trip but something seemed to snap in Paul's brain, restraining him instantly. Paul glanced at Dawn then at May._

"_We should find Drew," he stated, "Who knows what trouble he'll be in."_

"_Your hillbilly friend?" Trip asked._

"_No," Paul replied, turning his back on Trip, "My grasshead cousin."_

"_Who's the hillbilly eating like a pig anyway?" Trip asked Dawn as the two of them followed Paul. May fumed once more but didn't say anything. Instead she pushed past Trip and walked beside Paul._

"_I'll kill him for you," she muttered to the purple haired teen, "If you'll be my alibi."_

"_Don't tempt me," Paul replied. May smiled at him._

_They only had to walk a little way before they found Drew. He was with Reggie and Maylene. Reggie noticed his younger brother walking towards them and then noticed the new comer. Drew too seemed to see Trip before he saw anyone else._

"_You made a new friend?" Reggie asked. Paul glared back at Trip, although Trip was too busy smooth talking with Dawn to notice. Dawn had a worried look etched onto her face. She didn't like this situation one bit, especially since Paul had already told her that he didn't like Trip. She didn't want to make the situation worse. _

"_This is Maylene," Dawn told Trip suddenly, interrupting him talking about something. She wasn't listening anyway. Trip looked at the pink haired gym leader. He looked her up and down._

"_This is it?" he asked. Everyone froze. "A pink haired little girl?"_

"_Hey," Drew yelled, "Maylene happens to be one of the best gym leaders in this region."_

"_Yeah, she looks it," Trip commented, "Do you use Cleffa or Igglybuff?"_

"_What's that supposed to mean?" Maylene snapped._

"_You look like a pretty pathetic gym leader if I'm honest," Trip said. Dawn looked at Paul for help, but Paul wasn't paying attention. Actually, maybe that was a good thing._

"_Hey," Reggie said, "You have no right to say such things about Maylene before you've battled her."_

"_Whatever," Trip said. He took Dawn's hand. "Hey, I think I saw a Ferris Wheel over there. Let's go."_

_Dawn found herself being pulled along by Trip. She didn't want to go with him, especially after what he'd just said. Paul suddenly snapped back into attention, probably because Maylene was trying to claw at Trip and was having to be restrained by Drew and Reggie. Paul glanced at Trip's grasp round Dawn's hand. Paul clamped down on Trip's wrist. Trip turned and looked at Paul, so did Dawn._

"_What?" Trip asked._

"_I would prefer not to drag her," Paul said in a monotone. Dawn's eyes widened as Paul pulled Trip's hand from around her own. Everyone else seemed to be too preoccupied with Maylene to notice this show down between Paul and Trip. Paul was thankful since there would no doubt be a comment or five from Drew. _

"_You think you're so cool," Trip snapped._

"_That's because I am cool," Paul replied, "Now please leave us alone. After insulting everyone and trying to drag Dawn away from us against her will, I think it's best that you leave."_

"_Why should I listen to you?" Trip asked._

"_Because Lucario will be here soon and there's no way they'll be able to hold back both Maylene and him," Paul replied calmly. Trip bit his lip and then smirked. He looked at Dawn then back at Paul._

"_Fine," he said, "When I beat Maylene, I'll have a rematch with you. Then we'll see who's best."_

_He turned to Dawn and smiled at her._

"_Sorry," he said, "I'll make it up to you next time, OK?"_

_Then he was off. Paul watched him disappear into the crowd of people, glad he was finally gone. Dawn launched herself at Paul, hugging him tightly. Paul looked down at her, confused at her sudden motion._

"_Thank you," she muttered into his shirt._

"_Honestly, I don't know what you see in him," Paul said._

"_Not about that," Dawn said shaking her head, "You called me Dawn."_

_Paul paused. She was thanking him for calling her by her real name rather than saving her from that creep? Girls were weird. Dawn only beamed at his confused face._

"_You're funny when you do that," she said. Paul rolled his eyes. She leant up and pecked him on the cheek. "That's for getting rid of Trip."_

"_He's annoying," Paul stated. Dawn giggled._

"_I know you hate him," she said, "But I do fancy going on that Ferris Wheel he was talking about."_

_The two of them looked at their friends. They hadn't even realised Trip was gone. The two of them sweat-dropped. Paul moved his elbow so that Dawn could hook her hand round his arm. She smiled as she did this. They turned and walked away from their friends. _

"_Hey!" May had finally realised there was no more Trip. The brunette dragged Drew away from Maylene and Reggie and pushed him in the direction of Dawn and Paul. "Wait up you two!"_

_May trod on Drew's heel, making Drew fall over. May tripped over Drew, knocking him into to the side into a rather large mud puddle. Paul and Dawn stopped to look around at their friends in the mud. Drew had fallen face first into the mud but had acted as a shield for May. She wasn't half as muddy as he was. May sweat dropped._

"_Sorry, Drew," she said, rubbing her head. Drew rolled onto his back and glared at May with anger burning in his eyes. May looked genuinely scared. The two's attention soon slipped onto Drew's cousin and Dawn. The two of them were laughing. Paul was actually laughing at them. Drew felt a new surge of anger race through his veins. He scooped up some mud in his hands a flung it at Paul. Paul instantly stopped laughing as the mud hit his neck. He grimaced at the feeling a wet slime on his skin. Dawn put her hand over her mouth but resumed laughing a few seconds later. Paul wiped the mud away from his skin but only for it to be replaced as Drew threw more mud at his cousin and the girl beside him. Paul stepped in front of Dawn to shield her from most of the mud. _

"_That's it," Paul muttered as Drew stopped his barrage of mud attacks. By now May had got to her feet and was stood behind Drew, looking at him like he was an idiot. Paul glared at his cousin before walking up to the green haired teen. Paul scooped up some mud and put it down Drew's shirt. Drew yelped. Paul got more mud and rubbed it into Drew's usually glossy locks. _

"_WAR!" Drew yelled. Dawn and May watched as the usually cold Paul and usually cool Drew fought like three year olds in the mud. Dawn smiled at them, liking this childish side of Paul, but May was not impressed. _

"_You wanna get some candy floss?" May asked Dawn._

"_Sure," Dawn replied. The two girls walked off, leaving the guys to their little fight._

"It didn't sound too bad," Lewis commented as his father stopped speaking.

"There are only two things you can ever do to show yourself up in front of a girl," Paul told his sons in a truly serious manner, "Talk about ex-girlfriends and act like a three year old."

"Daddy, you're funny," Josh said.

"Why did mummy marry you?" Amber asked. Her father looked at his daughter with a look of surprise on his face. Lewis folded his arms and nodded like he was agreeing with his sister.

"That's true," Lewis agreed, "So far the you in the story has been useless, stupid and childish. Mummy made a very bad choice."

"That's right," Josh and Amber said, adopting the same pose as Lewis and nodding in time with each other. Paul hung his head. His children had turned against him. This was the end of all respect from them. At least Alfie wasn't here, he still had one left.

Dawn walked down the stairs and saw the small dark cloud looming over her husband's head. She laughed softly. Poor Paul. He always did have to put up with a lot.

**Poor Paul. Oh well, he should be used to it by now. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the Ikarishipping moments in this, there are more in the next one. Yay! Update will be soooon! Don't forget to review.**

**RSx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks to Macy Webber, splitheart1120, Mew Mew Pachirisu, Light-Sakura, AikoAkahana, PlatinaBirds (thanks for the review for the last chapter too), AnimexLauver4Ever and RaveOn21now22 for reviewing and EifieChan for reviewing chapter five :) Thanks you all!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon :(**

**Eight: Battle**

"The next bit of the story's not so bad," Dawn said brightly as she sat down beside her husband. Her children looked at her with hope on their faces. Paul glanced at his wife. "Remember. It was me being an idiot next."

"You're willing to tell them about you being an idiot?" Paul asked.

"Seems only fair," Dawn replied, "You've been a moron so far."

"Thanks," Paul said. Dawn turned to her children and smiled.

"Well, the day after the festival Trip came back to challenge Maylene, but Maylene was in a bit of a state you see. She was being assessed by an Elite Four member," Dawn said, "But the trouble was she didn't know who it would be…

_Dawn met Trip at the Pokémart the next day and he had somehow managed to talk her into watching his gym battle against Maylene. Dawn knew Paul would be mad if he found out but she guessed that Maylene may need the support. _

_As the two teens walked to the gym they came across a confused looking woman. She must have been eighteen years old or something like that. Her hair was long, falling free behind her. It was brown with black tips. She was wearing black shorts underneath a long white shirt with a brown belt on her hips. Knee high brown boots were on her legs making her look stylish and accomplished. She looked extremely confused. _

"_Excuse me," she asked Dawn and Trip, "Do you know where the Veilstone Gym is?"_

"_What an idiot," Trip muttered under his breath. Dawn sweat-dropped._

"_We're going there too," Dawn said, "We can show you if you'd like."_

_The woman looked relieved: "Thank you ever so much. It's been so long since I've been to Veilstone, I can't remember my way around."_

"_It's fine really," Dawn replied._

"_The gym's not really that hard to find," Trip said._

"_That's true," the woman said, "But I was looking for a friend's house and then decided I needed to go to the gym and the signals got crossed and I got lost."_

_They walked to the main gate of the Gym. The woman clapped her hands excitedly. Trip walked a head of her. _

"_Trip Shooti here to challenge Maylene," Trip said in a bored tone._

"_Oh, you were in the Unova league," the woman said, "I remember that name."_

"_Thanks," Trip said proudly._

"_You got totally creamed in the semis didn't you?" she asked. Trip's eyes widened in shock. This woman certainly had a bluntness about her. _

_Maylene saved the argument. She greeted Trip with some sort of niceties before she looked at the woman._

"_Are you here to challenge me?" Maylene asked._

"_Hopefully," the woman replied, "Sparrow Indigo."_

"_Sparrow Indigo…" Maylene repeated, "I'm sure I've heard that name before."_

"_I get that all the time," Sparrow said._

"_If you don't mind, I'd like to battle Trip first," Maylene said, scowling at the boy, "Then I'd be more than happy to take your challenge."_

"_Fine by me," Sparrow said happily. Sparrow followed Dawn to the stands of the battle field while Trip was led to the field itself. Sparrow looked excited as she looked round the gym and as she took her seat._

"_So you're Trip's travelling partner?" Sparrow asked Dawn. Dawn shook her head quickly._

"_I know Trip but I only came here to make sure Maylene would be alright," Dawn replied, "I know Maylene from my previous travels and I also know her friend Reggie."_

"_Reggie?" Sparrow asked, tilting her head to one side, "Reggie Shinji?"_

"_Yeah," Dawn said, "How do you know Reggie?"_

"_Each trainer will use three Pokémon," the referee was saying, "The trainer whose Pokémon are still standing at the end of the battle will be the winner. The challenger will have the first move."_

"_Alright," Trip said, "Go Staravia."_

"_Wow," Dawn commented as she saw the impressive looking flying type, "Trip's going for the type advantage."_

"_Yeah," Sparrow agreed, "I wonder how Maylene will handle this."_

"_Machoke," Maylene said, "Let's go!"_

_The bounced from one to the other. Trip won the first round, but Maylene took down Trip's next two Pokémon, then Trip won again. It was tied to the last two Pokémon. Maylene was using her ever faithful Lucario while Trip was using Jalorda to battle. Lucario appeared to be struggling slightly from battling the strange Pokémon. Sparrow watched in silence, Dawn noted, as if the older girl was formulating her own plans in her head. Sparrow was actually watching the trainers rather than the Pokémon. Trip seemed to be talking down to Maylene and Maylene seemed to be struggling because of it. Sparrow stood up suddenly._

"_Go on Maylene!" Sparrow yelled, "Don't listen to a rookie! You're the best female fighting type specialist in the world!"_

"_That's because she's the only female fighting type specialist," Trip commented._

"_Dude," Sparrow yelled, "Keep your eyes on your battling."_

_Trip looked at the field to see Lucario shooting an Aura Sphere at Jalorda. There was a cloud of dust. When the dust disappeared the grass type was laid on the ground, knocked out. Trip looked shocked. Sparrow cheered. Maylene thanked Lucario for helping her out before returning him. Maylene looked at Sparrow and Dawn who were laughing about something. Trip returned Jalorda and began to walk out of the gym. He paused at the door._

"_You got lucky," he told Maylene._

"_Trip!" Dawn yelled, "I'm going to watch Sparrow's battle. That OK?"_

_Trip let out a sigh but nodded anyway. Maylene looked at Dawn then Trip._

"_A word of advice," Maylene said, "If you ever hurt Dawn you'll be running long and hard."_

"_If it's people like you chasing me, I have nothing to worry about," Trip remarked before walking to the stands. Sparrow leapt over the divider between the stands and the field and landed softly on her feet. It was almost like she had done it several times before. Maylene and her bowed to one and other before taking their places at opposite ends of the field. _

_At the minute to two girls were exchanging pleasantries before Maylene left to change her team round and heal Lucario. Sparrow sat down on the floor in her little box and waited patiently. _

_Meanwhile, Paul was walking towards the gym on an errand from Reggie. Reggie had baked Maylene some cookies to cheer her up due to her assessment. How cookies were going to help her was a mystery to Paul. Just as Paul stepped into the building there was a bright flash. Paul glanced behind him to see that Torterra had released himself from his Pokéball._

"_What are you doing?" Paul snapped. Torterra just roared and pushed past Paul to get further into the building. Paul tried to return the large Pokémon but it refused to stay put in its pokéball. Reluctantly Paul left the Pokémon to it. He probably smelt Lucario and went for a chat or something. Paul let out a sigh. Torterra was getting awfully good at not listening to him recently. Paul hoped it didn't spread to the rest of his Pokémon. _

_Paul made his way towards Maylene's chambers, only to spot that there was a battle going on as he passed the dojo. Paul walked into the stands, waiting for Maylene to wrap things up before he spoke to her. Paul looked up to see Trip and Dawn watching the battle. Dawn glanced round at him._

"_Paul?" she asked, "I'm so glad you're here. You're missing a really good battle."_

_Paul glanced at the field to see an Eevee taking on a Machop. Despite the type disadvantage, Eevee was doing quite well. Paul sat down next to Dawn and folded his arms over his chest. Dawn eyed him cautiously for a few seconds. He didn't seem mad or upset that she was with Trip. She was relieved. _

"_Wow, that woman had no clue," Trip said as Eevee finally lost. Paul glanced up at the woman and froze. Dawn noticed this._

"_Paul? What's wrong?" she asked. As if on cue, Torterra entered the dojo. Dawn blinked as the large Pokémon sat in the corner, watching the battle intently. "Isn't that your Torterra?"_

"_Man," Trip said, "You really need to train that thing. It doesn't listen to you at all."_

_Sparrow turned round and spotted Torterra. She waved at it before letting out her next Pokémon: An Espeon. _

"_Say what?" Trip asked, "Why didn't she use that before?"_

"_Because she's testing Maylene," Paul said. Dawn looked at Sparrow and then back at Paul. Trip looked equally confused. "Every year, gym leaders are assessed to see if they are any good. Members from other region's Elite Fours come to test them. That's what Sparrow is doing."_

"_You know her?" Trip asked. Paul nodded._

"_She's the number one ranking Elite in Johto," Paul replied. Dawn looked at Paul, feeling her eyes well up with tears. Sparrow's Espeon had KO-ed Machop, so Maylene had sent out Mankey. In a matter of moves Mankey was out. Maylene let out a sigh as she sent Lucario in. To everyone's surprise, Sparrow recalled Espeon and sent out an Ivysaur._

"_Explains why Torterra was so eager to see her," Paul muttered. _

"_They know each other?" Dawn asked. Paul nodded._

"_Lucario, Aura Sphere," Maylene ordered._

"_Ivy, Vine Whip," Sparrow replied. Ivysaur launched itself upwards into the air, dodging Lucario's attack. "Solar Beam!"_

_Ivysaur charged up its power in a matter of seconds and launched a long thin beam of energy towards Lucario._

"_Lucario!" Mayelene yelled. Lucario was left standing but had taken a lot of damage. That was one powerful Solar Beam, Dawn thought._

"_Magical Leaf," Sparrow shouted. Multicoloured leaves flew from Ivysaur's bulb, hitting Lucario. It was just enough to knock out the steel/fighting type. Maylene let out a sigh as she returned Lucario. Sparrow went to congratulate her Ivysaur but the grass Pokémon ran past its trainer and went straight to Torterra. The two Pokémon nuzzled each other, making Sparrow sweat-drop. Maylene laughed as she walked towards Sparrow._

"_That was a great battle," Maylene said, holding out her hand for Sparrow to shake. Sparrow took it and shook it. _

"_It was," Sparrow agreed, "You really are one of the best fighting type trainers I've ever seen. Not even Brawley or Chuck are as good as you. You've trained your Pokémon well."_

"_Thanks," Maylene said with a smile. Sparrow turned to the stands and waved at the three teens._

"_Paulie!" she yelled. Paul grimaced at the nickname, making Sparrow laugh harder. _

"_You know Paul?" Maylene asked. Sparrow nodded._

"_I used to travel with Reggie back in the day," Sparrow explained, "And I'm the one who gave Paul his starter."_

_Torterra and Ivysaur nodded as Sparrow pointed over at them. Maylene looked a little shocked as she digested the information about Sparrow and Reggie knowing each other. As far as Maylene knew, Reggie never ever spoke about Sparrow, yet Sparrow seemed to be on good terms with Paul. As Maylene thought this, Sparrow jumped back over the divider into the stands, giving Paul a big hug. _

"_It's been so long," Sparrow said as she hugged Paul. Paul smiled as he gently returned her hug. Sparrow pulled away suddenly. "You beat Brandon I hear."_

"_Yeah," Paul said with a nod. Sparrow squealed._

"_That's my Paul!" she yelled. She looked at Trip and stuck her tongue out at him. Trip's face dropped but Sparrow's attention was already back to Paul. "You rubbed it in Reggie's face?"_

"_No," Paul replied._

"_You should," Sparrow told him, "You realise you're part of a super special club now with Silver and I, right?"_

"_No," Paul said. _

"_Well you are," Sparrow said. She glanced at Dawn. "I forgot to ask you, Dawn, are you a trainer?"_

"_No…" Dawn said feeling a little out of the loop. Sparrow blinked a few times._

"_She's a co-ordinator and stylist," Paul explained. Sparrow's jaw dropped._

"_Seriously?" Sparrow asked, shocked, "How do you know a co-ordinator and stylist?"_

"_I just do," Paul replied. Sparrow turned to Dawn._

"_You got to show me what you do!" Sparrow yelled, "I so wanted to be a co-ordinator but I failed miserably at it. No creativity what so ever."_

"_Really," Paul added, "No creativity at all."_

"_Shut it," Sparrow snapped at him before turning back to Dawn, "I would love to see some of your things."_

"_I really…" Dawn said, backing away from the group, "I have to go."_

_With that Dawn was off. Maylene walked over to the stands and looked confused as Dawn ran towards the door. Sparrow seemed a little startled at Dawn's actions. Paul was a little shocked too. Why had Dawn taken off so quickly? Trip laughed._

"_What's so funny?" Sparrow asked him. _

"_Nothing," Trip replied, "Well, nothing prune head would understand anyway."_

"_I'll find her," Paul said, ignoring Trip. Paul began to walk towards the exit. He paused and looked back at Sparrow. "Please don't kill Reggie."_

"_Oki doki!" Sparrow replied with an OK sign with her hands. Paul slipped his hands in his pockets and calmly walked out of the Gym, expecting Dawn to be waiting outside. _

_He looked round the door way to find she was no where in sight. His heartbeat began to race. Where could she have run off to? As if to make things worse, it sounded like there was a thunder storm rolling in. Hopefully Dawn wasn't anything like Sparrow when it came to storms. Paul could never understand it. Sparrow was scared stiff of thunder storms yet dated an electric type Pokémon specialist without any problems. Where was she?_

_Paul took off without really thinking, letting his feet lead him rather than his brain. It wasn't a good idea but was the only one he had. He stopped in the city centre, fully aware he was now soaked head to toe. If he got sick again he would shout at her. He had to find her first._

"_Paul?" _

_Paul turned to see his cousin and May stood under an umbrella near some shops. Paul ran up to them._

"_Have you seen Dawn?" Paul asked. Drew and May glanced at each other before shaking their heads._

"_What's wrong?" May asked._

"_She took off," Paul replied, "I don't know where she went but…"_

"_I can go check her apartment," May suggested._

"_I'll go and check back with Reggie," Drew said. _

"_I'll look round town," Paul agreed. The three of them split up, heading in different directions. Paul searched high and low through the town but there was no sign of her in her usual spots. Paul's cell phone rang. He instantly picked it up._

"_She's not home," Drew told his cousin, "And she's not here either."_

"_Tell Reggie to see if he can wait for her," Paul ordered, "And tell May to wait at her apartment."_

"_I'll head over and wait with her," Drew said before putting the phone down. Paul cursed mentally. The storm was really rolling in now. There were dark thunder clouds in the sky, giving an ominous aura. Lightening flashed in the sky. Paul counted how many Phanphy there were before the thunder boomed. There were only a few seconds between the lightening and the thunder. The storm was closing in fast and the rain was getting heavier._

_Now was the time to think. Dawn looked upset before she left, Paul recalled. Where would he go if he was her and upset? Could he even get upset? He didn't know. If Dawn was upset where would she go? Paul pondered this for a second but came up with nothing. This wasn't helping at all. Paul looked up at the sky hoping that there would be a sign just above him. _

_He remembered doing something similar to this years ago. It was a few weeks after his mother's funeral and he had tried to walk back to Veilstone on his own when he began to miss his mother. He wanted to see her, well visit her grave. Luckily Silver had caught up with him and managed to turn him back towards his brother. Paul could still recall the red head's harsh words but the reassuring hug after the words. They had been stood in the pouring rain for hours while Paul just cried into Silver's shoulders. Silver had just allowed him to cry until he couldn't cry anymore and then the two had returned to Reggie and Sparrow. Paul had never ventured back to his mother's grave since._

"_Mother," Paul whispered, suddenly realising where Dawn had gone. He ran towards the city limits, regretting not bringing Torterra with him. He was going to do something totally stupid and go into the wild without a Pokémon._

_Dawn was walking on Route 215, not really caring that it was raining or thundering. The rain hid her tears, the thunder echoed her despair. She was hugging her body, regretting leaving wearing only her usual short dress, boots and hat. She was cold but she didn't care. Her Pokémon were back at her apartment, but she didn't care about any of the dangers of walking into the wild without her Pokémon. She just wanted to get home. _

_There was a noise to her right. Dawn paused wondering what it was when a Sycther flew out from a nearby tree. Dawn yelped and fell backwards onto the floor. The Sycther must have been upset due to the weather because it looked a little confused. _

"_Sy?" it said as it looked round the area. Dawn kept deadly still so that it wouldn't see her. It was preoccupied with something in a nearby tree but then it looked at Dawn. It stared at Dawn before launching an attack. Dawn screamed, holding her arms over her face and closing her eyes but the attack never landed. Slowly opened her eyes to see Paul stood in front of her. Her eyes widened when she saw blood trickle down his arm, the arm he must have used to block Sycther's attack. Sycther leapt backwards. _

"_Paul!" Dawn shouted as Sycther launched another slash attack. Paul braced himself for impact. Dawn got to her feet and grabbed onto his waist, hugging him from behind._

"_Chu!" _

_Paul covered his eyes as a powerful Thunder attack appeared out of no where. Scyther fell onto its back, slightly crozzled by the attack. Paul glanced to where the attack had come from to see a Raichu running towards the pair. Paul was relieved. _

"_Rye?" Paul asked._

"_Chu," Rye replied, "Rai rai raichu."_

"_Thanks," Paul said. He pried Dawn from around his middle and turned to face her. She avoided his eye contact, knowing that he was mad at her. On top of that, he was now injured._

"_What were you thinking!" he yelled. Dawn flinched at his tone and volume. Tears began to flow down her cheeks once again. "Coming out here without any Pokémon when there's a storm! Are you insane or just plain stupid?"_

_Dawn cried a little louder. Paul tightened and flexed his hands, instantly calming down after his little outburst. Paul felt his heartbeat slow a little in his chest. She was safe and sound, that was good enough for him. He pulled her into a hug. Dawn was surprised at the sudden action but welcomed it all the same. He put his arms round her and gently stroked her hair. _

"_I'm sorry," Dawn stuttered through her tears._

"_You worried me," Paul told her but in a much softer voice than before._

"_I'm so sorry," she cried into his chest. Paul held her closer._

"_Please don't worry me again," Paul said._

"_I won't," Dawn promised. _

"_Rai?" Rye asked, twitching its ears. The storm would be getting a whole lot worse soon. Paul nodded at the orange mouse and tried to get Dawn from around him but it was no use. _

"_Dawn, we should get back," Paul told her, but she didn't budge. "Dawn?"_

"_I really, really like you," she blurted suddenly, looking up at him, "But you love Sparrow so it's best that I just go."_

"_What are you talking about?" Paul asked, raising an eyebrow, "I told you, Sparrow's like my sister."_

"_But she's perfect for you," Dawn snapped, "She's everything I'm not."_

"_She also has a boyfriend," Paul replied with a smirk, "She's serious with Silver. One of the reasons Reggie hates Silver. She's a Pokémon trainer. She's a really strong Pokémon trainer but she's as insane as a Togepi. If she was a Pokémon, she'd be a Togepi just because of that dumb smile she always has on her face."_

"_But you like her?" Dawn asked._

"_She's family," Paul stated, "I could never ask her to be more."_

"_Oh," Dawn said, cheeks blazing red by now. _

"_You like me?" Paul asked. Dawn looked away from him, embarrassed. Paul chuckled. "I thought you liked Trip."_

"_No," Dawn snapped, "He is nice looking and kind of cool but he's a bit of a jerk."_

"_Aren't I?" Paul asked._

"_You're just a jerk," Dawn replied, smiling slightly. Paul smirked. Dawn hugged him tighter. The rain was getting slightly heavier as time went on. Raichu was getting annoyed now._

"_Rai rai!" he shouted at the two teens._

"_We should go," Paul said, softly, pulling away from Dawn. She nodded. Paul put his hand in hers and held it tightly. Dawn looked at him oddly. "For the record, I don't mind you."_

"_Thanks," Dawn replied._

_Back at Reggie's house, Sparrow was holding onto Maylene for dear life as they sat in the living room on a sofa. Her fear of thunder was getting the better of her even though Ivysaur had tried to calm her down. Maylene didn't mind looking after Sparrow since Reggie was too busy looking out of the door just in case Paul returned. He'd left his Pokémon at home and Torterra at the gym. It wasn't a good sign. Anything could have happened to them. It was true that Sparrow had sent Raichu to locate Paul and make sure he was alright, but there was no way in knowing if Raichu had found them. Lucario nudged Reggie, wondering if he was alright._

"_I'm worried," Reggie said, "This storm looks bad."_

"_Lu," Lucario said. His ears suddenly perked up. "Lucario."_

"_What's wrong?" Reggie asked but Lucario just pointed at the gate. Paul had returned with Dawn behind him. She was wearing his jacket over her shoulders. The two of them were holding hands like it was no big deal. They didn't seem to be in a rush, but Raichu was. The orange mouse bounded towards the house and jumped inside._

"_Rai rai," he told Reggie. Reggie got a towel and threw it on Raichu. Raichu dried himself on the towel, muttering under its breath._

"_Paul," Reggie said as the two teens got close enough to the house, "Are you insane? Leaving your Pokémon behind?"_

"_It's my fault," Dawn said as Paul pushed her into the house, "I ran off and Paul saved me."_

"_Raichu saved us," Paul corrected. There was a loud crash of thunder and Sparrow screamed from the living room. Raichu sweat-dropped before running of to check on his master's mate just in case she was in actual danger. Reggie looked at the two dripping teens before putting his hands on his hips._

"_Well you'd better tell Drew you're here," Reggie said, "Then shower. Both of you."_

"_Reggie," Sparrow scolded, "They're kids. You can't honestly-"_

"_Shut up!" Reggie snapped, throwing Raichu's discarded towel at her head. Sparrow caught the towel and giggled. Maylene walked through the door and smirked at Sparrow._

"_You really do have a way with him," Maylene commented._

"_Oh yes," Sparrow said. She looked at Paul and Dawn before smiling fully and tilting her head to one side. "I think you two should dry off. The last thing you want is to be ill together."_

_Dawn and Paul nodded and proceeded to go towards the stairs. Sparrow took this opportunity to say something that made Reggie gape like he'd never done before._

"_By the way," Sparrow said with pure innocence and her usual bluntness, "Do you mind if I leave Ivy here with you two? I want her to breed with Torterra. That's OK right?"_

_Paul even had to do a double take. Reggie's jaw was practically on the floor. Maylene looked mildly amused while Dawn looked confused. Sparrow blinked a few times._

"_Is that a yes or a no?" she asked._

Dawn took her husband's hand in hers and smiled at him. Lewis coughed before his parents could even think about kissing each other (a totally disgusting thought for a six year old).

"So that's when you realised you loved her?" Lewis asked.

"Not really," Paul replied, "That's when I first realised I cared about her."

"And when I realised you cared for me too," Dawn said, snuggling up to Paul. Josh and Lewis pulled disgusted faces while Amber looked on like she was watching a fairytale.

"Let me get this straight," Lewis said. Dawn and Paul looked at their son, confused. "Mum left, dad went to find her, dad got jealous, dad asked mum to the festival, dad got jealous again, mum got jealous, mum left, dad went after her again and you still didn't love her?"

The other two blinked at their brother before looking at their parents, awaiting an answer. Both parents looked thoughtful for a few seconds.

"He does have a point," Dawn muttered.

"Yeah," Paul agreed. Dawn looked at her husband.

"So when did you realise you loved me?" she asked. Paul froze under her gaze. Dawn continued to scrutinise her husband and he began to panic. He looked at his kids then back at his wife.

"I don't know," he replied finally. Dawn pulled away from him, her eyes narrowed at him.

"Have you ever loved me?" she asked. Paul frowned at her.

"Do you think I'd have four kids with a woman I didn't love?" he asked. Dawn mulled this over in her head for a few seconds before she shrugged.

"Not that it matters," she replied, "I'd get everything in the divorce settlement anyway."

"What?" Paul asked.

"I'm just saying," Dawn said holding up her hands. Paul rolled his eyes. The kids looked confused.

"Mummy, what's a vorce?" Josh asked. Dawn giggled.

"Nothing you'd ever have to worry about," Paul replied.

"I don't know," Dawn said, "If I don't hear when you fell in love with me, honestly, the truth, then divorce may become a real player in this house very quickly."

"You play dirty," Paul commented under his breath. Dawn winked at him.

"I learnt from the best," she replied. Paul shook his head.

"You want to here more before I get thrown out of the house?" Paul asked his children.

"Yeah!"

**Lots of Ikarishipping for you there. Hope you enjoyed. How will affect them in the future? Who knows? Apart from me. Haha! Don't forget to review :)**

**RSx**


	9. Chapter 9

**This is my favourite chapter so far! Before I thank my wonderful reviews, I would like to thank my friend who gave me all the information I needed for this chapter. And of course thanks to: AikoAkahana, RaveOn21now22, PlatinaBirds, splitheart1120, Light Sakura, AnimexLuver4Ever, LuckyTigger and shippofan2k who were lovely and reviewed :) **

**Writing update!: This is going to be a 12 chapter fic. I know because I'm writing it :) All secrets will be revealed in due course… Just once Paul remembers them…**

**There will be lots of Ikarishipping goodness in this chapter, well… it has its moments.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. If I did Ash would've been hospitalised at the beginning of Diamond and Pearl and Paul would have taken his place in stead. Sound good?**

**Nine: Babies**

"As hard as it may be to believe," Paul said, "Your mother's not always been so good with babies."

"After two you get the hang of it," Dawn remarked.

"You didn't even want to have children," Paul said. Lewis, Josh and Amber gaped at their mother. Dawn glared at her husband.

"Says the man who actually fell down the stairs and broke his leg when he found out I was pregn- I mean- asked Arceus for Lewis," Dawn argued back. Paul didn't have a come back for this, so instead, he ignored her. He looked back at his children.

"Not long after Sparrow left, Maylene dropped a bomb on us," Paul went on, "Her sister was ill and needed some help from Maylene and Reggie. However, Maylene also had a nephew…

_Paul stared at the plump, squishy miniature humanoid in his brother's arms. Reggie was gently cradling the baby like a well trained mother. Maylene was looking at Reggie in awe._

"_Wow," she commented, "You're a natural."_

"_Thanks," Reggie replied, "But I should help you out with Penelope since she's ill. I'm sure Paul and Drew can handle looking after little Dylan for a while."_

"_I guess," Maylene said as Reggie walked towards Paul and handed the baby to him. Paul took the baby awkwardly and held it at arms length, not really sure what to do with it. Dylan gazed at Paul in wonder._

"_Baba," Dylan said, reaching out for Paul. Paul's eyebrows rose as he became increasingly confused at what to do with… it. Maylene looked at her nephew with worry plastered on her face. Reggie didn't seem to notice what had got her so worried. Maylene walked over to the phone and instantly dialled Dawn's house. Reggie looked at Maylene._

"_What are you doing?" he asked._

"_Getting help," Maylene replied, "Paul and Drew are going to need it."_

_Twenty minutes later, May stormed through the back door. She looked eagerly at Dylan who was safely back in Reggie's arms. Paul was sat staring at the baby because Dylan seemed to have a weird fascination with him. The baby would watch him where ever he went._

"_He's so cute," May said as she lifted Dylan out of Reggie's arms and held him in a comfortable position close to her body. Reggie laughed as May cooed the baby. Dylan had finally stopped looking at Paul but now he had latched onto the sight of Dawn. Dawn didn't look too happy to be there. She looked uncomfortable as the baby looked at her._

"_You four going to be alright?" Reggie asked as he shooed Maylene out of the door._

"_Yes," May said happily, "We'll be fine."_

_Too late. Reggie and Maylene had already disappeared out of the backdoor. May bounced the baby in her arms, smiling at it in pure happiness. Dawn and Paul weren't so enthusiastic. Drew decided to appear at the bottom of the stairs at the minute. He looked at May, then at the baby._

"_Why do you have a baby, May?" he asked._

"_We're babysitting," May replied happily._

"_Good luck with that," Drew remarked._

"_No," Paul said, "We're all babysitting that one baby."_

"_You're kidding right?" Drew asked. Slowly Dawn and Paul nodded. Drew glanced at the baby one more time. "What's its name?"_

"_His name is Dylan," May replied, "And he's so sweet."_

"_He smells horrible," Drew commented as he walked a little nearer to the baby and May. May blinked and then giggled._

"_Looks like he needs a change," she said, handing him to Drew. Drew looked confused._

"_You want me to change him?" Drew asked. May nodded._

"_With Paul's help," May said._

"_Don't get me involved," Paul stated._

"_Why can't you do it?" Drew asked._

"_Because Dylan is a guy," May replied like it was the simplest thing in the world, "It would be wrong me changing a baby if he was male."_

"_Fine," Drew snapped, "Paul, fetch two pegs, a pair of kitchen tongs and the diaper stuff."_

"_You're changing him," Paul told his cousin._

_Paul and Drew were stood in the kitchen five minutes later with Dylan on his changing mat. Drew had a clothes peg on his nose with a pair of rubber gloves on his hands. Dylan was giggling at him. Paul observed from the sidelines, not ready to give it a go just yet. Drew's face went through a series of colour changes as he cleaned up the baby the best he could. Eventually h was done and the baby was all clean. Paul looked at Dylan for a second before Drew tried to redress him. _

"_You put the nappy on the wrong way," Paul stated. Drew looked at the diaper and then at Paul._

"_How do you know?" Drew asked._

"_You put the thin bit at the back," Paul replied, "It's supposed to be at the front."_

"_What are you…" Drew's question was answered when he looked at Dylan again. Obviously the little guy had to go a lot but since the nappy was on back to front, you can guess what happened. Drew turned a pale green colour before rushing out of the room. Paul smirked and decided to take over. Stupid Drew, Paul thought as he cleaned up the baby for a second time, although Paul had found it amusing that Drew's face had gone the same colour as his hair. Dawn walked into the kitchen a few minutes later, coming to investigate what was taking so long. Paul was struggling to get the baby back into his clothes._

"_Having trouble?" she asked. She glanced the dirty diapers on the side and wrinkled her nose. _

"_Yeah," Paul said, "Can you help me dress him?"_

"_Sure," Dawn said. Paul held the baby while Dawn gently put the clothes back on. In no time at all Dylan was dressed and clean. Paul handed Dylan to Dawn while he cleaned up the mess. Dylan was watching Paul carefully._

"_Baba," Dylan said as Paul went outside to throw out the dirty nappies. He returned a few seconds later and eyed Dawn carefully. Dawn was stood frozen with Dylan in her arms._

"_What's wrong?" Paul asked._

"_I'm… not good… with babies," she replied. She quickly handed Dylan back to Paul. It was Paul's turn to freeze. He held the baby out like he had down before: at arms length like Dylan was likely to explode any minute now. Dawn giggled at him. May came into the kitchen and spied Dylan. She instantly snatched him in her arms and carried him into the living room. Paul walked up to Dawn._

"_This is going to end badly isn't it?" Paul asked. Dawn nodded._

"_Hey Paul?" May shouted from the living room, "Do you have a copy of Bambi?"_

_Paul flinched at the name of the film. Dawn giggled as she recalled the last time she had mentioned Bambi. Paul was just about to tell May they didn't have a copy but she interrupted him._

"_Oh, wait," May said, "I've found it."_

"_Kill me," Paul muttered to Dawn, "And quickly."_

_Dawn patted him on his back before she pushed him into the living room. The two of them sat together on the sofa while May sat on a cushion on the floor. She was playing with Dylan through out the film so there was no reason for the film to actually be on. Drew returned sometime later, his usual colour. He flumped on the other side of Paul and eyed his cousin carefully as he noted how close Paul and Dawn were sitting. The three teens mindlessly watched at the young Deerling grew and played in the forest with his friends Thumper, a loud mouthed Bunneary, and Flower, a bashful Stunky, then finally evolving into a mighty Sawsbuck before escaping a heard of angry Magmar who had ventured into the forest. Drew had cried when Bambi's mother had been captured and taken away by a trainer. Paul looked bored throughout the film and only paid attention when Dawn had snuggled up to him. He was about to yell at her for doing this until he realised she had fallen asleep. He let her off for that. _

"_Someone needs feeding," May announced, "Paul can you go and heat up a bottle?"_

"_No," Paul replied, feeling slightly glad he allowed Dawn to fall asleep on him, "I am currently a pillow."_

"_Drew?" May asked. Drew slowly got to his feet and grumbled as he went to make Dylan a bottle. Dylan took this opportunity to crawl to Paul. _

"_He likes you," May teased as Dylan tried to stand up, tugging on Paul's trousers for support. Once upright, Dylan tugged on Paul's trousers once again, demanding to be picked up. Paul glared at Dylan, trying to scare the baby away but Dylan didn't quite get the idea of a 'death glare' so ignored it completely. Paul rolled his eyes, finally giving in, and picked up the baby without disturbing Dawn too much. Paul sat Dylan on his free leg. Dylan looked at the sleeping Dawn and tugged at her hairclips. After a few tugs, Dawn shot up, yelping as the baby pulled her hair in the opposite way._

"_OW!" she yelled. Paul quickly made Dylan let go of Dawn's hair but the baby began to cry loudly. Dawn quickly took out her hair clip and gave to Dylan to play with. This shut the baby up quickly. Paul and Dawn sighed. Crisis averted. _

_Drew walked into the room holding a freshly warmed bottle for Dylan. Paul handed Drew the baby so that Drew could feed him. Drew let out a sigh, hating every moment as he fed the little guy. Dylan's eyes never left Paul even when he had a bottle in his mouth. Paul ignored the gaze. When Dylan had finished drinking, Drew put him over his shoulder and gently patted the baby's back until he burped. Drew handed Dylan back to Paul and went back into the kitchen. Dawn and Paul stared at Drew's back for a second as he turned it to them._

"_Drew?" Dawn said, "Er… You may want to go and change your top."_

_Drew turned back round and checked the front. _

"_What do you mean?" he asked._

"_Ew, Drew," May said as she walked past him, "What's on your back?"_

_Drew glanced over his shoulder and turned green once again before dashing upstairs. Dylan cutely waved at Drew as he rushed past the three of them on the sofa. May walked up to Dylan and took him from Paul._

"_He's so cute," she announced, "Do you want to play some more?"_

_Paul watched as May began to play with some building blocks with Dylan. Dylan was happily joining in until the tower toppled over and fell on May. Paul smirked as the boy started laughing as May was covered by wooden blocks. He had a cruel sense of humour. Paul could respect that. Dawn on the other hand was worriedly watching Dylan like he was going to explode or something. Drew returned down stairs wearing a clean t-shirt. _

"_I hate babies," Drew mumbled as he sat down beside Paul and watched May play with the baby. The three teens watched their friend play with the baby for a while longer until Drew got to his feet. "Stuff this. I'm getting custard."_

"_Custard?" May asked._

"_Yeah," Drew replied, "I thought I spied some in the cupboard."_

"_Yeah," Paul agreed. The two guys walked into the kitchen. May turned to Dylan._

"_Does Dylan want custard?" she asked him._

"_Baba," Dylan replied, reaching out towards the kitchen._

"_He wants Paul," Dawn stated. May looked at Dawn, then at Dylan._

"_How did you work that out?" May asked._

"_Baba means Paul," Dawn replied, "He always says it when he's looking at Paul."_

"_Oh," May said, happily picking up Dylan and taking him into the kitchen. Dawn let out a sigh. She glanced at Dylan's bundle of toys. _

"_Kefa," Dylan said from the kitchen._

"_No there aren't any Kefa, Dylan," May said._

"_Kefa," Dylan said sadly, "Kefa!"_

_The baby began crying loudly. Dawn let out a sigh. She looked at the various toys. There was a Clefa stuffed toy. Dawn picked it up and took it into the kitchen. She gently handed it to Dylan who shut up immediately. _

"_Kefa," Dylan sang, "Kefa, kefa, kefa."_

_Dawn let out a sigh before realising the others were staring at her. _

"_How did you know what Kefa was?" Drew asked._

"_A guess," Dawn replied with a shrug. May nodded slowly._

"_Do you like Kefa?" May asked Dylan._

"_Kefa!" Dylan yelled._

"_There's your answer," Drew remarked. May giggled. Drew was attempting to open the tin of custard but it wasn't going well. Paul looked on with some amusement as Drew struggled to get it open. Finally, Drew had managed to get the ring on the top of the tin to come up and was now tugging on it to get it open. A smirk tugged at Paul's lips as his cousin failed to open the tin. Just as Paul was going to intervene, Drew managed to rip the lid from the tin._

"_Ha ha," Drew said mightly as he put his hand on his hip, holding the tin up, "Nothing beats Drew."_

_Paul looked across at May and Dylan. The two of them were covered in custard. Dylan was licking his lips, giggling as the gloopy mess stuck to his face. Drew blinked a few times before laughing nervously. May handed Dylan to Dawn before chasing Drew round the kitchen, eye ablaze at what he'd done. Paul let out a sigh. Stupid Drew had been pulling too hard so when the tin had finally opened, the custard had flown out. Dawn grimaced as she took the Clefa doll off of Dylan. The child began to cry loudly. Paul walked over to the two._

"_Baba!" Dylan cried. Dawn handed Paul the baby. Paul looked down at his top. He was now covered in custard himself, as was Dawn. She let out a sigh._

"_I'll clean up the doll," she said._

"_What am I supposed to do?" Paul asked. _

"_Give the baby a bath," Dawn replied._

"_How… how do I do that?" Paul asked. The two of them looked at each other for a few seconds until they both realised that neither of them knew what to do. Drew and May were too busy running around to notice. Paul was growing slightly annoyed._

"_Enough!" Paul yelled. Dylan looked up at Paul. May and Drew stopped running and looked at Paul too. "You two are going to go to the mall and get Dylan some clean clothes."_

"_But shouldn't we help you two?" May asked._

"_Drew's helped enough," Paul replied, "And you're annoying me."_

"_He should be sized a year to eighteen months," Dawn told her friends, "He's in between the two ages size wise."_

"_OK," Drew said._

"_Also, get some more nappies," Dawn said, "Medium in size, probably."_

"_Nappies come in sizes?" May asked._

"_Clothes do don't they?" Dawn replied, "I suppose the same goes for nappies."_

"_Fine," Drew snapped, "But can May get changed first?"_

"_I don't have any other clothes here," May replied. _

"_Fine," Drew snapped, "First Dawn's then the mall."_

"_Go already," Paul said, "Before you cause another catastrophe."_

_Paul walked into the living room and looked in the bag Maylene had brought for Dylan. There were plenty of things in there, although they were running low on nappies like Dawn had said. How did she know these things?_

"_I'm going to put Kefa in the wash," Dawn stated, "May and Drew have just left."_

"_OK," Paul said, "How do I give him a bath?"_

"_Er…" Dawn said as she looked in the bag. She pulled out some baby lotion and a soft sponge. She looked at Paul then at Dylan. "Do you have a tub or something?"_

"_Reggie washes some Pokémon in a plastic thing," Paul replied. He handed Dylan to Dawn and went to find the tub. He returned a few minutes later holding a blue tub that was easily big enough for a baby. Dawn nodded. The two teens swapped what they were holding and Dawn went to fill up the tub with water. Paul watched as Dawn checked the water temperature and put the tub on the side. She popped into the living room to get the sponge and baby lotion. _

"_I need a towel," Dawn stated as she took Dylan from Paul, "A nice fluffy one."_

"_OK," Paul said as he went upstairs. He found a soft feeling towel and took it to Dawn. Dawn already had Dylan in the water and was gently washing him. The baby was splashing happily in the water, getting water all over the sides and on Dawn. Dawn took it in her stride and tried her best to wash him. Paul watched from a distance. He disappeared back upstairs, soundlessly, to retrieve a camera. When he returned to the kitchen, Dawn was still washing Dylan… Or was Dylan washing Dawn? Paul couldn't tell since Dawn was as wet as Dylan was by now. Never-the-less, Paul quickly took a picture. Dawn looked at him, not impressed as she saw the flash._

"_That's just mean," she told him. Paul smirked. "Reggie must be getting to you. You're being all sentimental."_

"_Possibly," Paul said, "But it proves to Maylene we didn't fail at being baby sitters."_

"_True," Dawn agreed, "Although she may ask us to do it again."_

"_Baba," Dylan said, reaching out for Paul._

"_Get the towel ready," Dawn announced. Paul fumbled with the towel, holding it out. Dawn gently placed Dylan into Paul's arms and the towel. Paul dried the baby off. Meanwhile, Dawn snuck Clefa into the water and gave it a quick wash. Paul smirked as he saw her do this, thinking how clever she was being. Dylan looked round as Dawn squeezed the extra water from the Clefa doll._

"_Kefa!" Dylan said._

"_Kefa's having a wash just like Dylan is," Dawn told him. She walked over to the towel and quickly gave the toy a rub in the soft material. "See?"_

"_Kefa baff!" Dylan agreed. Dawn laughed at the boy, Paul even smiled. _

"_Now we need to dress him," Dawn told Paul, "Can you sort out the nappy while I sort out Kefa?"_

"_Sure," Paul agreed. Paul placed Dylan on his changing mat and proceeded to put a diaper on the baby. It felt really uncomfortable changing the baby with Dawn milling around in the back ground. Once the nappy was on Dylan, Paul let out a sigh. This was going to drive him insane._

"_Baba?" Dylan asked. The baby looked confused to why Paul was sighing. _

"_It's nothing," Paul told Dylan before mentally face palming himself. He was talking to a baby like it understood him when all the baby could say were a few jumbled, mispronounced words._

"_Baba!" Dylan yelled smiling. Paul smiled. Maybe the baby did understand him. Paul picked him up and held him close to his body. Dylan clung onto Paul's jacket, like it was holding on for dear life. Paul felt a little relaxed despite holding a baby in his arms. It felt sort of nice. _

_Dawn returned holding a fully dried Kefa in her hands. She beamed at Paul._

"_It's all dry," she said happily, "Now to get Dylan dressed."_

"_We don't have any spare clothes until Drew and May get back," Paul said. Dawn thought for a minute. _

"_I've got an idea," she said, "Have you got a spare, old t-shirt?"_

"_Yeah?" Paul said not sure why she was asking. He looked confused as Dawn merely smiled._

_Ten minutes later, Dawn held up a newly made baby-grow. Paul looked at it in amazement. Dawn had cut a few bits here and there before sowing it up with a sowing machine, then clipping a few popper buttons between the legs and here it was: a new outfit for Dylan. Paul and Dylan had the same shocked expressions on their faces as Dawn showed them the new clothes._

"_What's wrong?" Dawn asked. Paul and Dylan exchanged glances before Dylan giggled loudly._

"_If I had not seen you do that," Paul said, "I would have never believed it."_

"_Is it OK?" she asked. Paul nodded. They attempted to get Dylan into his new clothes but the boy had other ideas. Apparently he preferred being in his nappy rather than his clothes. He fought as hard as he could so that Dawn and Paul couldn't dress him._

"_He's strong for a little thing," Dawn muttered as Dylan waved his arms round._

"_He's stubborn," Paul agreed. Finally, after what seemed hours, Dylan was finally dressed. He had returned to playing with his blocks on the living room floor. The two teens let out a relieved sigh as they sat down on the sofa, using each other to hold themselves up. _

"_We did it," Dawn said rather tiredly, "Now where are May and Drew?"_

"_I have no idea," Paul said, rubbing his head. They slowly looked back to where Dylan had been playing. Had being the past tense of was. Alerted by the sudden disappearance of Dylan, Paul and Dawn jumped up and began looking round for him._

"_Dylan!" Dawn called, "Where's Kefa?"_

"_Dylan!" Paul yelled, "Get here now."_

_The teens ran around the house but there was no sign of him. They almost ran into each other as they tried to find each other._

"_You found him?" Dawn asked Paul. Paul shook his head. Slowly, they both looked out of a nearby window as something caught their eye. Dylan was crawling towards Dawn's Pachirisu. The two teens sweat dropped._

"_He knows how to use the pokéflap?" Dawn asked._

"_Apparently," Paul replied. They rushed outside, hoping to catch Dylan before Pachirisu shocked him. _

_Dylan, being a baby didn't realise that the squirrel Pokémon was dangerous. In fact, he saw the Pokémon as a soft, cuddly, cute thing he wanted to play with. Dylan grabbed Pachirisu's tail and pulled it hard. Pachirisu jumped, not expecting the sudden attack. Electricity crackled in its cheeks before it let off a powerful discharge._

_Paul was quick enough to pick up Pachirisu and pull it out of Dylan's grasp before the Pokémon let out a powerful discharge attack. Dawn winced as Paul was shocked, knowing that he wouldn't respond well to it. Ironically, Dylan clapped as electricity surrounded Paul. Dawn picked up Dylan and sweat-dropped as Paul and Pachirisu fell to the floor. Paul's hair was sticking out at odd angles and his clothes were slightly charred. Pachirisu glanced at Paul before letting out a happy 'chipar' noise._

"_Now I know why Ketchum is so thick," Paul said as he sat up, "Pikachu really did a number on him."_

"_Are you alright?" Dawn asked._

"_Fine," Paul replied. _

"_Chipar?" Pachirisu said as it looked at Dylan in Dawn's hands. Pachirsu glared at Paul before letting out another powerful discharge on the purple haired teen._

"_What the hell was that for!" Paul yelled as he recovered from the second attack._

"_Chipar!" Pachirisu snapped, pointing at Dylan. By now Dawn's Piplup, Bunneary and Quilava along with Paul's Torterra and Honchkrow had made their ways to the two teens to see what the commotion was about. _

"_Pip? Piplup!" Piplup yelled as he saw Dylan in Dawn's arms. _

"_Bun bun," Bunneary said going gooey eyed. Quilava powered up its flames on its back. _

"_Tor tor?" Torterra asked Paul._

"_We're baby-sitting," Paul snapped to the large Pokémon, "What did you think we were doing?"_

_There was a chorus of confused Pokémon talk as if they didn't understand the concept of baby-sitting. _

"_Pip pip lup piplup?" Piplup asked. Paul stared blankly at the small penguin._

"_Tortor torterre tor tor terra," Torterra translated. Paul blinked a few times._

"_No!" Paul yelled at Piplup and Dawn's other Pokémon, "It is not 'our' baby!"_

_Paul got quickly to his feet._

"_Stupid Pokémon," he told them before walking quickly towards the house._

"_Pip piplup lup," Piplup commented making the surrounding Pokémon nod in agreement. Dawn giggled nervously._

"_Guys, this is Dylan," Dawn said, "He's Maylene's nephew."_

_The Pokémon greeted Dylan and Dylan waved back. Dawn laughed._

"_Dylan has to play inside," Dawn told the Pokémon, "Come and see him later, OK?"_

_Dawn walked back into the house and put Dylan back beside his toys. The baby began to play happily once more. Paul was sat on the sofa, sulking. His hair was back to normal but his clothes were still charred. _

"_Are you alright?" Dawn asked as she sat next to Paul. Paul nodded. They kept an eye on Dylan as they talked, not daring to take their eyes off of him again. Dylan was acting all innocently, playing with his blocks as if nothing had stopped him. "You're not too mad at Pachirisu are you?"_

"_It was surprised," Paul replied._

"_What did Torterra say?" Dawn asked._

"_They thought it was our baby," Paul explained, "They thought we'd had an egg together."_

_Dawn blushed red before rubbing her head._

"_That's why they ganged up on you?" she said. She let out a sigh as Paul nodded. "Sorry about that."_

"_It's fine," Paul replied. They watched Dylan in silence for a few minutes until the baby began to cry. Paul looked confused._

"_He's hungry," Dawn stated. She got up and picked up Dylan. She turned to Paul who looked twice as confused as before._

"_How do you know this stuff?" he asked. Dawn shrugged._

"_I'm not sure," she replied, "I just know."_

"_I'll get him a bottle," Paul said. With that he walked into the kitchen._

_May and Drew returned an hour later. They walked into the kitchen and looked around. Everything was a mess. There were random toys on the floor, food covering every surface along with a few plastic spoons. A thin layer of milk powder coated the sides. Dylan's food stained bib was laid beside the sink along with a bottle and empty dish of food. There were a few food splatters on the walls and cupboards. _

_Everything was quiet as well, apart from the dim noise of the TV. Confused, May and Drew walked into the living room to investigate. There was a baby TV show on the TV. Some Igglybuffs and Clefa were helping their trainers to count to ten. The two looked away from the TV to look at the sofa. Paul was sat in his place asleep. Dawn was snuggled up to him with his arm round her, also asleep. In their laps sat Dylan who was happily playing with Kefa with a dummy in his mouth. Dawn had her arm round him to stop him falling onto the floor. Dylan looked at May and Drew and waved at them. The two teens waved back, not sure what to do. Drew spied the camera Paul had used earlier and quickly took a picture before May scooped up Dylan. _

"_Looks like they had fun while we were gone," Drew said._

"_Look at these clothes," May said as she held up Dylan. _

"_Shall we let them sleep?" Drew asked. Paul had various stains on his jacket and top along with some baby food in his hair. Dawn's hair had milk powder in it and food stains also patterned her clothes. Both look exhausted. _

"_I suppose it's for the better," May agreed._

_The back door opened. _

"_Mimi!" Dylan chorused as he saw his aunt walk towards him. Maylene looked around the kitchen nervously as she and Reggie entered the house. Maylene walked over to Dylan and picked him up._

"_What happened here?" she asked May and Drew._

"_Beats us," Drew replied, "We went out for supplies and came back to this."_

_Reggie peered into the living room and smiled at his brother._

"_They've done a good job," Maylene commented as she checked her nephew over, "He's happy, clean and uninjured."_

"_I told you they would," Reggie said._

"_I can't say the same for those two," Drew said, "or the kitchen."_

_Reggie walked over to Paul and Dawn. He looked down at his brother, smiling. Paul stirred. His eyes opened sleepily as he looked round the room. Everyone was looking at him and Dawn. Paul looked down at Dawn and let out a sigh._

"_Leave us alone," was all he said before went back to sleep. Whatever comments were going to be made could be saved until later, he decided._

Paul looked down at his wife to see she was cuddled up to him. She was looking down at her children who had decided it was a good time to follow their parent's example and take a nap. Paul smirked down at the three.

"You grab Amber?" he asked as he got up. Dawn nodded. Dawn picked up her little girl while Paul got the other two. Dawn led the way upstairs to the children's room. Dawn tucked Amber in and then went to help Paul with the other two.

"Lewis is getting a little big for picking up," Paul commented. Dawn nodded. They looked round the room at the sleeping children.

"What should we do while all of them are taking a nap?" Dawn asked. Paul looked round the room for a few seconds before he looked at his wife.

"I think we should recharge our batteries," he stated, "I have a feeling we'll need it for when they wake up again."

Dawn nodded and both adults walked into their own bedroom. Dawn sat down on the bed and looked at her husband.

"You were really cute back then," she said, "And you're a really good father."

"No," Paul stated as he sat down. Dawn pouted.

"I was just saying," Dawn said.

"Well, the last time you were just saying, I ended up with three more children," Paul replied. Dawn laughed as she snuggled up to him. The two of them lay on the bed for a few seconds. Before Paul let out a sigh. "You're a really, really cruel woman."

"I know," Dawn replied as she kissed him. Paul rolled his eyes as he kissed her back.

**Hope you enjoyed it! Update will be tomorrow sometime… I'm not sure when but it will be there. Please review me with your thoughts!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks to PlatinaBird, Light-Sakura, DaRkMiDnIgHtSnEaKyCaT, AnimexLuver4Ever, RaveOn21now22, LuckyTigger and M for reviewing! Please don't have a heart attack when you read this title. It's not what you think… It's worse ;) Anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Me no own Pokémon :(**

**Ten: Leaving?**

"I heard you the first time," Paul snapped at his friend over the phone, "No need to shout at me."

"You really should take your job seriously," the person replied in an icy cold voice that made shivers run up Dawn's spine. She was stood not too far away from the phone and could easily hear what was going on.

"Yeah," Paul said sarcastically, "And you should pay attention to yours. It looks like yours is going to eat a crayon."

"What?" the person yelled as he quickly turned round and left the phone to check on a baby. Paul smirked as he turned the phone off.

"How is it that after all these years, Silver still gives me the chills?" Dawn asked. Paul shrugged as he walked over to his wife.

"The day Silver stops giving anyone the chills with be when Hell freezes over," Paul replied. Dawn smiled at him. Upstairs there was the pitter patter of feet. A few seconds later, three children were stood in the kitchen doorway glaring at their parents.

"You let us fall asleep," Lewis snapped.

"So?" Paul asked, "Your loss."

Dawn elbowed him in the ribs. Paul smirked at her.

"Do you want more of the story?" Dawn asked. The children nodded. Paul leant against the kitchen side, thoughtful looking. Dawn glanced at him as the children took up their seats at the breakfast table. "Something wrong?"

"No," Paul replied, "I think I remember when I realised I was love with you, now."

"Really?" Dawn asked, "It's taken you long enough."

"When daddy?" Amber yelled.

"Well," Paul said thinking about the answer, "It's sort of a long story."

"At least you've finally found the right plot," Lewis remarked.

"Are you saying my story has been pointless?" Paul asked sharply. Dawn let out a sigh as her husband and children began to bicker like only they could.

"Yeah," the kids replied.

"Fine," Paul said as he crossed his arms, "I'll not tell you the rest."

Dawn looked at her husband before looking back at their children. The children had turned into their cute phase, the only phase they used when they wanted something. Paul ignored them as they gave him puppy dog eyes and trembling lips. Amber began to sniffle and a tear trickled down her cheek in a well rehearsed act. Dawn was sure her mother taught the kid this. Yep, it sounded like something Johanna would do. Paul's eyebrows twitched as another tear ran down Amber's cheek.

"Alright," he said. The children suddenly went back to smiling as their father sighed.

"Thank you, daddy!" they chorused, but Paul ignored them.

"In life you just don't fall in love over night," Paul said.

"That's why we've been sat listening to you for the last gazillion hours," Lewis said.

"Lewis," Paul said, looking his son in the eyes, warning him gently to shut up. Lewis sank into his seat but remained quiet. "You also don't get married just like that."

"But that's what Disney does," Amber said, "And my books."

"You really have to stop letting them watch Disney," Paul told his wife. She nodded.

"Yeah," she agreed, "If they keep this up then they'll be married and divorced five times each before they're thirteen."

"What do you mean by that?" Paul asked, glancing at Amber.

"They're kids," Dawn said, "It's what they do."

"No boy will touch my little girl," Paul grumbled, "Not unless they want Torterra to squish them."

Dawn clipped her husband round the head while their children merely sweat-dropped, confused by the whole conversation.

"Ow. Well, the point is, that life isn't like those stories," Paul said. Amber looked a little sad at this but Paul smiled. "The stories aren't anything like real life, Amber, it's even better."

"Really?" Amber asked, head snapping up, hope twinkling in her eyes. Paul nodded. He moved slightly so that Amber could go and sit on his lap. Amber happily ran to her father and jumped onto his lap. Dawn gave Paul a look that screamed 'Mr Softie' until she sat down in Amber's empty chair. Amber looked up at her father, waiting for the story.

"After baby sitting Dylan, I felt like I couldn't take it anymore. Drew and Reggie were forever tormenting me about Dawn. Thankfully, Drew and May left a few days later," Paul said, "But they weren't the only people to leave…

_Reggie looked upset when he returned from the gym in the middle of the afternoon. Paul and Dawn were training in the back yard when they saw Reggie go into the house, not bothering to say 'hi' to them. _

"_What's wrong with him?" Dawn asked as she ran up to Paul. Paul shrugged. "Aren't you going to see if he's alright?"_

"_You're going to make me, aren't you?" Paul said. Dawn nodded. Paul walked towards the house to go and check up on his brother like Dawn wanted him to. Why he was doing it, he had no idea._

_Paul found Reggie in the living room. The old Shinji was slouched on the sofa, staring at the wall in a depressed sort of way. Paul stood awkwardly for a few seconds before he decided to sit next to Reggie._

"_Is anything wrong?" Paul asked his brother. Reggie shook his head. "Well, I thought I'd make sure seeing as you're so joyous and everything."_

"_Maylene's leaving," Reggie stated. Paul blinked a few times._

"_Excuse me?" Paul asked._

"_She says she's going to train for a while," Reggie explained, "With just her Pokémon."_

"_Did she say why?" Paul asked._

"_No," Reggie replied. Paul felt a pang of pity for his brother for a split second but then he remembered he was Paul and pity wasn't him. Paul got to his feet._

"_Where is she training?" Paul asked._

"_Kanto," Reggie replied, "I think she said Mount Silver."_

"_Then you should go to Hoenn," Paul stated._

"_Why would I do that?" Reggie asked, confused. _

"_Show her that if she can travel you can too," Paul replied, "Apart from me, there's nothing here for you. Go and help Professor Birch or someone. Learn, grow, excel. If she's trying to get better, you should too."_

"_Why Hoenn?" Reggie asked, "Why not Kanto?"_

"_Hoenn," Paul snapped, "It's further away than Sinnoh is to Kanto."_

"_Why would I do that?" Reggie asked, "She'll think I'm trying to put distance between us or something."_

"_Not really," Paul said, "Tell her that's there are a lot of strange Pokémon in Hoenn and you want to learn how to look after them as well as Sinnoh Pokémon."_

"_But…" Reggie stuttered, "What about you?"_

"_I'll be fine," Paul replied, "I've travelled on my own for a while. I'm sure I can survive without you."_

"_You're fourteen, Paul," Reggie snapped, "I doubt I can leave you like that."_

"_Fine," Paul said, "I'll travel again."_

"_But what about Dawn?" Reggie asked. Paul hadn't thought about Dawn. Why should he anyway? Sure she was his friend but he was sure she could understand what he wanted to do. In the end, Paul merely shrugged._

"_I'll sort that out," Paul told Reggie. _

"_If this fails, you're dead," Reggie warned. A smile soon lit up his face. "Thanks, Paul."_

_Paul nodded and turned to go back outside. Paul walked slowly as he was trying to find a way to tell Dawn the news. He found he couldn't come up with anything. He looked up at her as she came into view. She was happily instructing her Pokémon to use contest moves. Paul took a deep breath, trying to calm the nerves that had suddenly started to nip at his stomach. _

"_How's Reggie?" Dawn asked. She must have been looking at him for a while because she looked sort of confused._

"_Maylene's going to travel," Paul stated, "So I've told Reggie to travel too."_

"_They're going to travel together?" Dawn asked excitedly. Her excitement disappeared when Paul shook his head._

"_She's going to Kanto," Paul explained, "Reggie's going to Hoenn."_

"_What!" Dawn yelled._

"_I'm also going to travel," Paul went on, "Johto or Kanto, I haven't decided yet."_

_Dawn fell silent. Her Pokémon looked at her worriedly for a few seconds before they decided to leave Paul and Dawn to talk. Paul bit his lip expecting her to yell at him for leaving but she didn't. She hung her head so her fringe hid her eyes from his view._

"_So that's it?" she asked, "You're just going to leave?"_

"_I can't stay here on my own," Paul replied._

"_Have you just decided this or have you been thinking about it for a while?" Dawn asked._

"_I haven't had the time to think recently," Paul said, "It's to help Reggie."_

"_I know," Dawn said, "But I can't help but be… angry… and sad you're going."_

"_Don't be," Paul snapped. Dawn looked up at him, surprised. _

"_What do you mean by that?" she snapped, "Can't I feel anything? Is it illegal or something? Can't I be sad when someone I care about leaves me! Without a proper reason?"_

"_I'm not leaving you," Paul snapped back, "I'm just leaving Veilstone."_

"_And that's where I live!" Dawn yelled._

"_Well come with me then!" Paul shouted. He took a deep breath to regain his composure. "I mean, if you want to, I wouldn't mind."_

"_No," Dawn said. Paul looked at her surprised by her answer. "No. I'm doing that again. Just so I can be tossed aside when you decide to go somewhere else. Ash did that to me after the Sinnoh League. Kenny and Zoey did the same thing when they went to Johto. I can't deal with doing that again."_

"_I didn't realise they did that to you," Paul said. _

"_I'm sorry, Paul," Dawn said with tears streaming down her cheeks, "I couldn't cope if you left me behind. My heart would break and I don't think I could survive."_

_Paul took a few steps towards her and carefully put his hands on her shoulders. He remained silent for a few minutes as Dawn just sobbed._

"_I promise I won't leave you," Paul told her, "It's why I asked you to come with me."_

"_But you will," Dawn sobbed, "Because that's what Kenny and Zoey said too."_

"_I'm not Kenny or Zoey and I'm definitely not Ash," Paul said, calmly, "I don't have anyone to keep an eye on me here. No relatives or anything. You've got your mother to support you. I'd have no one."_

"_Then come and live with mum and me," Dawn pleaded. She hugged Paul tightly. "You can stay with us in Twinleaf."_

_Paul put his arms round Dawn and hugged her back but he remained silent as if he was thinking it over in his head. Part of him wanted to travel, the other part wanted to stay with Dawn. He understood that she was scared of him leaving her and in a way he was scared of her leaving him. That's why he asked her to go with him. That way he could have both._

"_I want to go to Johto," Paul stated, "To see Sparrow and Silver."_

_Dawn pulled away from him and nodded. She understood. He wanted to travel more than her. It was what everyone wanted, she supposed. She was about to turn away when Paul grabbed her hand._

"_But it can wait a while," Paul went on, "Sparrow and Silver aren't going anywhere."_

"_Are you sure?" Dawn asked. Paul nodded._

"_You may get fed up of me being around you in a few months," Paul said, "You might throw me out. I'm not sure."_

"_I've already put up with you a lot," Dawn said, smiling. Paul sighed._

"_Or I might leave you," Paul said. Dawn looked down at the floor. _

"_I am a handful," she admitted._

"_Reggie will leave in a few weeks," Paul stated, "And if I live with you for a while then I know I'll go crazy."_

"_So you won't come?" Dawn asked._

"_Not unless…" Paul stopped himself, "You said you liked me."_

"_Yeah," Dawn said blushing._

"_I like you too," Paul stated without so much as a pink hue on his cheeks. Dawn bit her lip. "I want to be your… your…"_

"_Boyfriend?" Dawn asked hopefully. Paul nodded. Dawn threw her arms round him as she hugged him tightly. Paul hugged her back. Relief washed over him as she continued to hug him. Suddenly she pulled away from him. "Is this some thing to do with your deal with Reggie?"_

"_No," Paul replied, "Although, it's what has stopped me from asking you before now."_

"So you told her you loved her and she never doubted you?" Lewis asked.

"Ssh," Amber and Josh shushed their older sibling.

"_Do you promise?" Dawn asked._

"_I care for you," Paul replied, "An awful lot. And I don't want to leave you."_

"_Do you really like me?" Dawn asked. Paul nodded. "And you don't care that I'm a little ditzy and loud and troublesome?"_

"_I should ask you if you don't mind my cold hearted jerkiness," Paul replied, "And my indifference to everything."_

_The two of them thought for a minute until Dawn smiled once again._

"_We complete each other," she said. Paul nodded. "So we're together?"_

"_I guess so," Paul replied as he let go of her, "It's not like I've done this before."_

"_That's true," Dawn teased. Paul smirked at her. He took her hand in his and they walked towards their Pokémon to continue their training._

"And you still weren't in love with her, were you?" Lewis asked, looking slightly bored. Paul raised an eyebrow while Dawn patted her eldest's back.

"Like I said," Paul said, "Love doesn't occur overnight. It takes baby steps."

"There were times where we argued so badly, I thought we were over," Dawn admitted, "But I guess, we never got round to breaking up. We just stuck together, hoping everything would work out."

"We eventually travelled to Johto where Sparrow and Silver lived. Silver… wasn't too nice to your mother, but Sparrow was overjoyed," Paul said, "After we travelled to Johto we came back home. Then we went to Hoenn to see Reggie."

"And then you stayed at home?" Josh asked. Paul shook his head.

"We travelled all over the place," Dawn replied, "To Kanto and Unova, the Orange Islands and even the Sevi Islands."

"Wow," Josh said, "And you didn't leave her, daddy?"

"Never thought about it," Paul replied.

"Yay, daddy," Amber sang, "You did things right!"

Lewis looked confused for a few seconds.

"So if you were travelling, when did you decide to stop and get married?" Lewis asked. Paul and Dawn looked across at each other.

"I asked your mother to marry me when she was seventeen," Paul said with a smile.

"So you were in love by then?" Lewis asked. Paul nodded.

"You haven't told us when you fell in love, daddy!" Amber yelled.

"Yeah," Dawn agreed, "You said you remembered when you did love me."

"I do," Paul replied, "And I'm getting to it."

There was a loud cry from upstairs. Paul and Dawn looked at each other like they were deciding who should go and see to Alfie in a wordless exchange. Paul slide Amber off his knee and went to check on Alfie, leaving the other three kids looking kind of glum about his leaving. Dawn smiled at them.

"Shall I make hot chocolate while we're waiting?" she asked.

"Please, mummy," Amber said happily. The other two agreed and soon the kitchen was full of movement as all three of them attempted to help out their mother.

**So what will be the final thing that makes Paul fall in love with Dawn? :O Find out in the next chapter! Cos I'm mean and everything. Don't forget to review!**

**RSx**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks to splitheart1120, LuckyTigger, AikoAkahana, Light-Sakura, AnimexLuver4Ever, Angelic Sakura Blossom and RaveOn21now22 for reviewing! I hope this chapter isn't a total let down T_T So please review and let me know what you think :)**

**Eleven: Arguments**

"_I told you," Paul snapped at Dawn, "It wasn't my fault."_

"_Oh yeah?" Dawn argued back. Johanna came rushing into the hallway as she heard her daughter return. Over the past three months Johanna had gotten used to the two bickering and bantering but there was something in their tones that alerted her to this argument. Dawn was glaring at Paul with her hands on her hips. "It just so happened that your Weavile attacked Kenny for no reason at all?"_

"_I told you," Paul growled, "Weavile was confused because Kenny's Pokémon confused it."_

"_Oh, I'm sure that's right," Dawn said, "I hate it when you get jealous."_

"_I am not jealous," Paul snapped._

"_Yes you are!" Dawn yelled, "You get jealous whenever any guy talks to me."_

"_No, I get annoyed whenever a guy __**flirts**__ with you," Paul replied, "Which is every other guy since you wear such skimpy clothes."_

"_Are you saying I look trashy and easy?" Dawn asked. _

"_Yes," Paul snapped. Johanna looked between the two teens. She was extremely worried about where this argument was going but she daren't step in just in case she made things worse._

"_So you don't trust me? Is that it?" Dawn asked. Johanna looked at Paul._

"_This has nothing to do with trust," Paul snapped, "This is about you accusing me of something because you think I'm always wrong."_

_Bad move Paul, Johanna thought._

"_I am not accusing you of anything!"_

"_You said I told Weavile to attack Kenny! Just because Kenny implied it!" Paul yelled. Dawn flustered._

"_Well, you weren't being very nice to him," Dawn replied._

"_Because he was flirting with you!"_

"_So you were jealous!"_

"_No."_

"_Then what's the matter with you?"_

"_I'm fed up of you not believing me, that's what's the matter with me!" Paul yelled, "It's just like when you accused me of staring at Zoey because Kenny said I was."_

"_I didn't accuse you of anything!" Dawn shouted back. _

"_Yes you did," Paul snapped. Johanna folded her arms and looked at the argument. This one seemed like it wasn't going to blow over. Johanna was more than worried now. Dawn was angry which was no surprise, but Paul also looked like he was fuming. That was not a good sign. "I trust you but you don't seem to trust me. You'd much rather listen to two people who abandoned you in Johto than a boyfriend who cares for you."_

"_Oh yeah?" Dawn asked, "And you don't trust me enough to talk to other people who happen to by guys without running off with them!"_

"_It's not about that!" Paul yelled. _

"_Please," Johanna said, "Calm down."_

"_You think you know best all the time don't you?" Dawn asked._

"_Since when do I do that?" Paul snapped_

"_Always," Dawn replied, "You always think you're the greatest in the world and I'm just a stupid little girl. Apparently __**my**__ friends who I have known for years aren't really my friends because one of them 'likes' me."_

"_You seemed to have forgotten that these same friends left you in Johto," Paul said loudly, "Alone with not so much as a farewell."_

"_That was then," Dawn said, "They apologised!"_

"_For what?" Paul asked, "For not getting in touch sooner?"_

"_You never forgive do you!" Dawn yelled._

"_I do, but I don't forget about the past," Paul replied, "It takes time to forgive people."_

"_See, that's your opinion!" Dawn shouted. _

"_If I'm not going to be listened to then why should I bother being here?" Paul snarled. Johanna stepped back slightly at the tone in Paul's voice. _

"_Fine then," Dawn spat back with a tone with twice as much venom, "Leave me and get out of here!"_

_She turned and stormed out of the hallway, making her way upstairs to her room. Paul leant back on the door, panting hard. Johanna looked at him worriedly. He seemed pale and shocked. Instant regret all over his face._

"_Paul?" Johanna asked._

"_Thank you for your kindness," Paul said in a strangely calm voice, "But I'm leaving."_

"_Paul," Johanna said, "It's just one argument."_

"_And next time it will be two," Paul stated, "I'll get my things."_

_Johanna bit her lip as Paul walked up the stairs and to his room. What should she do? What could she do? Paul was almost as stubborn as Dawn. Paul returned with a rucksack a few minutes later. He never did bring a lot of stuff with him, Johanna thought as he walked back down the stairs. He gave her a small bow before he left the house. Johanna stared at the now closed door, hoping he'd come back. Dawn ran out of her room and looked down at the hallway. Paul wasn't there anymore._

"_Mum…" Dawn trailed off. Johanna ran up to her daughter as Dawn collapsed onto the floor. _

"_It's OK, Dawn," Johanna told her daughter as she embraced her. Dawn cried into her mother's top. "It'll all be fine."_

"_He's gone," Dawn cried, "I… I… Mum!"_

"_It's OK sweetie," Johanna replied calmly, "I'm here. You'll be fine."_

_Outside Twinleaf Town, Paul was walking hurriedly towards Sandgem Town. He didn't want to think about anything, especially not what had just happened. Paul kicked a rock in anger. Why did she have to do that? Why did she have to accuse him of things he wasn't guilty of? Didn't trust him at all? He put everything on hold for her and this is all she could do?_

_Paul came to a fork in the road. One way lead to Sandgem Town, the other to Lake Verity. Paul looked between the two before taking the latter route. He walked through the grass until he found himself at the lake. He sat down near to the water and stared morosely at his surroundings. Paul grabbed Torterra's Pokéball and released the continent Pokémon._

"_Tor?" Torterra asked, confused at the surroundings. Torterra glanced at his master, realising that his master seemed extremely upset about something. Torterra laid down beside Paul and waited for Paul to him. Paul was quiet for a long while but Torterra knew better than to push the matter._

"_It's over," Paul mumbled. _

"_Tor?"_

"_Dawn and I," Paul replied, "We had an argument and I left."_

"_Torterra, tor tor ra terra," Torterra said. Paul looked at the giant Pokémon._

"_Why should anyone have to deal with me?" Paul asked, "I can't ever do anything right. So why should you bother!"_

"_Tor! Torterra, tor tor torterra terra tor tor terra ra!"Torterra scolded Paul. Paul kicked the ground in frustration. He let out a breath. Torterra tilted his head to the side before he nudged Paul gently. Paul rubbed his head, although he looked even more depressed than before. Torterra stood up. "Tor tor ra. Torterra erra tor."_

"_I can't go back," Paul muttered._

"_Tor torterra?" Torterra snapped._

"_My pride has nothing to do with this," Paul replied. Torterra blinked. "I hate hurting her. I know I'm bound to screw things up again so can't I spare her it?"_

_Torterra looked at the floor. Paul glanced at his companion._

"_No comment?" Paul asked, "Not even my own Pokémon believes I can do this. I'll be alone all my life while the one girl I ever loved finds happiness with someone else. At least I'll spare her from any pain."_

"_Tort… erra?" Torterra asked. Paul looked up at the Pokémon with a little confusion._

"_Why do you think that?" Paul snapped, "I don't love her, we've only been dating for a few months."_

"_Torterra terra torterra tort," Torterra stated. Paul blinked. Translation: You just said you loved her. Paul ran the conversation back through his head before he jumped to his feet. He let out a shaky sigh._

"_I meant… I mean…" Paul hung his head. Everything seemed to catch up with him at once. The happiness he'd felt over the last few months, the pain at seeing her upset, the comfort he felt in her presence. "I do. I do love her."_

"_Tor tort ra terra," Torterra told him. Paul looked at his friend and offered him a small smile. _

"_I can't make her happy," Paul said. Torterra gave Paul a hard glare as if to tell him to stop being stupid. Paul walked back towards Route 201. Torterra followed behind, wondering what Paul was going to do. Paul paused at the sign pointing towards Sandgem Town and Twinleaf Town. _

_Finally Paul made up his mind and continued on his way._

_Dawn was still crying but now she was in her room. Johanna had been banned from entering as were any Pokémon. Piplup looked worriedly up at Johanna._

"_Pip?" he asked._

"_She'll be alright, Piplup," Johanna said. Piplup looked at the floor in a saddened way. Despite Paul being a little mean, Piplup had really thought this would work out between them. Johanna walked into the kitchen with her Glameow behind her. Piplup continued to stare up the stairs._

_There was a knock at the door. Piplup squawked so that Johanna could answer it. Johanna rushed from the kitchen to the door and opened it quickly. _

"_Oh, thank Arceus," she sighed. Paul nodded his head, "I thought you were just going to take off."_

"_Sorry," Paul replied, "I had to go and cool off."_

"_Wise choice," Johanna said, "She's in her room."_

_Paul stood awkwardly on the front step for a few seconds before he let out a small sigh. _

"_Torterra," Torterra snapped, "Tor tor ra!"_

"_Pip piplup!" Piplup agreed. Johanna smiled at the two Pokémon shortly before Paul recalled Torterra, muttering a quick thanks to him. Paul walked into the house and set straight up the stairs. Johanna let out a sigh of relief._

"_Everything's going to be fine," she muttered._

_Paul knocked on Dawn's door._

"_Let me alone, mum!" she replied through the door. Paul leant his head on the door for a few seconds before opening the door anyway. He looked round Dawn's rather spacious bedroom as he closed the door. Dawn was laid face down on her bed crying._

"_Please," she said, "I'm fine."_

_Paul stood awkwardly for a few seconds. He walked over to her bed and stood next to her. Slowly he sat down and put a hand on her shoulder. She quivered as she cried into her pillow. He hated seeing her this way. He stroked her shoulder tenderly._

"_Dawn," he said softly. Dawn gasped. She looked up from her pillow and sat up. She wiped her eyes the best she could and attempted to stop crying. The two of them sat in silence for a few seconds before Paul pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back. No words were said for a while as they sat embraced in each others arms. _

"_I'm sorry," Paul said finally, "I shouldn't have yelled at you."_

"_No," Dawn said with a sniff, "I was the one who shouted first. I'm sorry."_

_Paul kissed her head. Dawn hugged him tighter._

"_I was so scared you'd really left me," she told him, new tears in her eyes._

"_I almost did," Paul admitted, "But Torterra made me realise it was a mistake."_

"_I'll thank him," Dawn said. _

"_I don't want to hurt you, Dawn," Paul said in a serious manner, "Because I care for you too much. I love you. I hate seeing you upset and I know I don't deserve you. I can't promise that I won't hurt you again because I will probably end up doing it sometime, but I don't want to leave you."_

"_You… You love me?" Dawn asked as she pulled away slightly so she could look him in the eye. Paul nodded slowly. "Really? You really mean it?"_

"_Is that all you heard from what I just said?" Paul asked, raising an eyebrow._

"_No," she snapped, "But it's the only thing that matters to me."_

_She sat up and gently kissed him on the lips. It took Paul a second or two to figure out what she was doing before he could react. By the time he had figured out what to do, Dawn had pulled away._

"_You're so bad at this," she giggled. Paul frowned. To his surprise she jumped on him again, hugging him tightly. "But at least you know what matters."_

_Paul smiled gently as he went back to holding her. _

"_I finally got something right," Paul muttered to himself. _

"_One out of ten is about right," Dawn teased. Paul decided to let it slide rather than sparking another argument, just in case. Instead he jut tightened his grip on her waist._

"_I love you too, Paul," she muttered into his ear. _

"Daddy," Josh said, "That was really bad way to tell mummy you loved her. You made her cwy."

"Yeah, daddy," Amber agreed as the small girl looked up at her father. Paul smiled across the table at his wife, however was side tracked by his confused looking son.

"What's wrong, Lewis?" Paul asked.

"Why did you fall in love with mummy after a fight?" Lewis asked, "It's confusing."

"It's when I realised I was in love with your mother," Paul replied, "In all probability I was in love with her before that but never realised. That's why I told you all those other parts. I fell in love with her a bit at a time."

"That's an easy way to get out of the question," Dawn muttered. Paul scowled at her.

"When did you fall in love with me then?" Paul asked. The children looked at their mother. Dawn smirked.

"I can recall the exact point when I fell in love with you," she said, "Your father was in the Sinnoh League going up against Ash. I over heard him talking to his brother on the phone so I hid and listened."

"That naughty, mummy," Amber commented.

"I know sweetie," Dawn replied, "But when your father caught me, he didn't yell at me. He told me that he hated Ash because he was exactly like your uncle. I said that Ash was Ash while Reggie was Reggie. It was the first time your father had ever talked to me like an equal and I dunno, I guess I just fell in love right there."

Lewis, Josh and Amber looked at their father, who seemed to be slightly startled by his wife's confession.

"What?" Dawn asked.

"You were in love with me the whole time?" Paul asked, "And you never hinted anything until you ran away that time?"

"Oh yes," Dawn said sarcastically, "I was bound to walk up to you at our first meeting and say 'hi, Paul, I love you'. Did you ever wonder why I went to Reggie's that night anyway?"

"I never really thought about it," Paul said.

"I would just go over and talk to him so I could get some insight into you," Dawn replied, "And why I decided to set off to Hoenn on my own. I was on my own for a long while until I bumped into Zoey and Kenny."

"I never… knew that," Paul said, dumbfounded. Dawn laughed at his expression. It was a rare expression from him that reminded her of Ash. The kids giggled at him as well. "Here I was, trying to teach the kids that love doesn't happen over night and you have to go and mess that up."

"What have you learnt from these stories, kids?" Dawn asked her three kids.

"Daddy can be stupid," Josh said. Paul glared at his son.

"Daddy funny!" Amber yelled.

"Er…" Lewis said, thinking of an answer that wasn't already said, "Love is different for everyone?"

Paul glanced over at his wife who was smiling at her eldest.

"Exactly," she said, "Well done all three of you."

"Thank you so much for your support," Paul said to Dawn.

"But what happened next?" Lewis asked his mother.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked.

"Story not done!" Amber agreed.

"I'm not sure when our story ends," Dawn replied, "It's still on going."

"I think I know where we can leave it," Paul said. Dawn looked at her husband and waited for what he was about to say.

**Hope you liked :) On another note, I need a title for another fic and I need help on it T_T If you have any suggestions for a fic set in Johto with Barry, Dawn and Paul as the main characters, please tell me! I had to write one since a few people had suggested it :) I'm working on it! **

**Thanks for reading!**

**RSx**


	12. Chapter 12

**Final chapter! I can't believe it. I don't think I've wrote so much in such a short space of time. But it was so worth it! Thanks to my reviewers: AikoAkahana, eeveelutionluvr, Mew Mew Pachirisu, RaveOn21now22, splitheart1120, Light-Sakura, Macy Webber, shippofan2k, AnimexLuver4Ever, sapphiet, Platina Birds, Booky-Faliza. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Paul, Dawn or any other Pokémon characters but I do own Lewis, Josh, Amber, Alfie and Sparrow.**

**Twelve: Happy Endings**

"I need to regain some of my respect back," Paul said, "So I'll tell you how the story finishes. OK?"

"_And the winner is Paul!" the referee stated. Paul was paralysed for a second and so was his opponent. Garchomp was laid flat out unconscious close to his trainer. The blonde haired woman could hardly believe it. The crowd had fallen completely silent until someone took the opportunity to shout: "Woo! Go Paul!"_

_Paul sweat-dropped realising that the voice belonged to Sparrow. Typical for Sparrow to make a scene, Paul thought. Slowly, his opponent recalled her Pokémon. The stadium was deadly silent. It was like none of them dared to move or talk. _

"_I never expected you to beat me," she said quietly, "But then again, I never expected to loose."_

_Paul recalled Torterra silently. He didn't understand. Had he just won? Or had he just lost? He couldn't tell just yet. It was like there was a fog in his mind. Nothing made sense. Maybe it was a dream? No, he was pretty sure it wasn't a dream. _

"_It was a good battle," his opponent said. Paul nodded slowly. Before he could reply, he was attacked by something with blue hair. Paul glanced round to see Dawn hugging his middle. He smiled down at her as he put his arm round her. His opponent looked on._

"_So, you going to say it or what?" Sparrow asked the blonde as she walked onto the field. _

"_He's come a long way," the blonde replied with a little sigh, "I shouldn't have underestimated him."_

"_Like that would have made a difference," was Sparrow's reply. The two women looked across the field as Dawn talked to Paul. He still looked a little dazed but he was smiling at Dawn._

"_Cynthia," Sparrow sang, "Speech."_

"_Fine," Cynthia snapped at her long term rival, "I have lost in a fair match against Paul Shinji. He has beaten my Elite Four and myself. I…"_

"_Go on," Sparrow muttered in the two second pause in Cynthia's speech._

"_I now declare, Paul Shinji as the new Champion of Sinnoh," Cynthia yelled. The stadium burst into noise. People were clapping and cheering for Paul. Paul looked round the stadium, but really he didn't care about the people sat watching him. He looked back at Dawn who was still hugging his waist. _

"_You did it!" she yelled at him, smile on her face. She was beautiful, Paul mused, when she smiled like she was now. It was weird, and perhaps soppy, that at the time of him winning the title of Champion all he could think about was her and how brilliant she was. She had trained with him, travelled with him, lectured him and supported him throughout the trying months. He really did love her. "Champion Paul."_

"_I guess I did," he muttered. Dawn pinched him hard in the side. Paul frowned at her._

"_Just so you know it's not a dream," she told him. Dawn let go of him and stepped to one side. Paul was confused by the action but two seconds later he was flat on his back, having being rugby tackled by Sparrow._

"_Yay Paul!" she yelled as she squeezed him tightly. Paul grunted as he struggled for breathe in Sparrow's grip. She quickly let go and was on her feet once more in the blink of an eye. Cynthia was walking towards Paul. Paul stood up and took Dawn's hand in his._

"_Paul," Cynthia said as she held her hand out. Paul slowly moved to take it. They shook like friends. Sparrow looked on, smirking to herself while Dawn beamed on so proudly._

"_Alright!" Sparrow said, fist pumping the air. Cynthia glared at her long term rival. "Party time!"_

"_You had this all arranged, didn't you?" Cynthia asked. Sparrow shrugged._

"_I know how to whip up a party in three hours, so sue me," Sparrow replied, "I do have the cake maker on speed dial."_

"_How did I ever loose to a girl like you?" Cynthia asked, "It's rare that you have an intelligent thought in your head once a year!"_

"_You say that but what you really mean is you want cake too, right?" Sparrow asked. Cynthia let out a sigh._

"_I give up," Cynthia said. She turned to Paul. "She's your problem now."_

"_Well done, Paul!" Sparrow sang happily, "You finally beat Cynthia after all these years."_

"_Yeah, yeah," Paul retorted, "Because it took you so long to learn responsibilities to take Johto's Championship last year."_

"_Don't mess with me," Sparrow snapped. Cynthia let out another sigh but was rescued by Silver and Reggie. The two guys looked at Sparrow oddly for a second before Silver put his hand on her head._

"_Shut up," he told her. _

"_Paul, I don't know what to say," Reggie said to his younger brother, "But well done."_

"_Thanks," Paul replied with a nod._

"_You've done well," Silver agreed, "To beat Cynthia."_

"_That was a tad mean, Silvy," Sparrow commented. Silver rubbed her head quickly, messing up her hair. Sparrow stomped her foot. _

_Paul ignored the ensuing argument between the four 'adults'. He instead turned to Dawn. She was still smiling up at him._

"_I can't believe you finally did it," she said._

"_Neither can I," he admitted. Dawn giggled. He took her hand in his. "Your answer?"_

_Dawn looked confused for a few seconds until she laughed loudly._

"_You took on Cynthia and won just because I said I'd give you an answer if you did beat her?" Dawn asked, "You're so stupid."_

"_It helped," Paul replied, "Now, what is your answer?"_

"_My answer is…" Dawn mocked thinking about an answer for a few minutes. She smirked as he got slightly annoyed. "Well… If I had to give an answer to the question you asked me, I would prefer to hear the question once more."_

"_I am not getting down on my knee again," Paul told her. _

"_You don't need to," she said with a shrug._

"_Will you marry me, Dawn?" Paul asked. Dawn's smile grew. She leapt on him, snuggling close to him._

"_Yes," she said loudly, "Of course I will."_

_She was going to say something to tease him but it could wait until later. Paul hugged her tightly. The two of them shared a quick kiss before they were suddenly aware that Cynthia and Sparrow were stood in the box Paul had been stood in for his battle. At the other end of the pitch were Silver and Reggie. _

"_Oh this is going to be so easy," Sparrow remarked._

"_Oh yes," Cynthia agreed. Paul glanced down at Dawn. _

"_Let's move," Paul said, "Before they do something stupid and Sparrow gets blamed for it."_

"_Pineapple pizza?" Dawn suggested._

"_Sure," Paul replied. The two left the arena hand in hand, not even bothering to look back as another Pokémon battle begun behind them._

"Is that where you're going to leave the story?" Dawn asked, raising an eyebrow. Paul rolled his eyes.

"Fine," Paul snapped, "I know you're dying to tell them since you've told everyone else about it so many times."

"It's because it's hilarious, Paul," Dawn replied.

"_You know, I thought things would get easier when you were married," Reggie told Paul as the two of them moved boxes into Paul and Dawn's new house in Veilstone City. Paul found it nice to finally have the house ready. It had been built especially for them with the money Paul earned from being champion, but it had been over four months since Paul and Dawn had got married and they were only just moving in. Paul put down a box in the middle of the floor of the hallway. _

"_It's a nice place," Johanna commented as she walked in, holding another box in her hands. Maylene followed behind her._

"_It's a really nice site," Maylene agreed, "It's why I told them to build it here."_

"_See, doesn't it pay to be nice to people?" Reggie said, nudging his younger brother in the ribs. Paul sighed. _

"_Where's Dawn?" Johanna asked once she realised her daughter was missing._

"_Upstairs," Paul replied, "She said she wasn't feeling well."_

"_Oh," Johanna said, "I told her not to eat Ash's cooking but I swear she's too nice."_

"_Where do you want these?" Maylene asked, holding up the box in her hands. _

"_Upstairs," Paul said, "All of these need to go upstairs actually."_

_Paul lead the way up the stairs with Johanna behind him. Reggie and Maylene were chatting as she commented on the colour of the walls. Reggie had told Maylene, eventually, but when he finally did it was at Paul and Dawn's engagement party. Paul had… 'accidentally' slipped some alcohol into Reggie's drink and kept doing so throughout the night until Dawn caught him. Then it was the both of them spiking Reggie's drinks. You can probably imagine that Reggie was very, very drunk by ten pm that night. He had made a bit of a fool of himself as he declared his undying love to Maylene, only to find his was talking to a common houseplant at the time. Maylene hadn't been too impressed with him then holding the houseplant all night long. Naturally, Drew and Paul had helped Reggie into bed that night and, of course, tucked the plant in next to him. _

_At the top of the stairs, Paul paused as he heard a shriek. The group at the top of the stairs looked round confused. Paul put his box down on the floor and walked towards the master bedroom. _

"_Dawn?" he asked. Dawn rushed out of the bedroom a few seconds later, pale as anything but smiling all the same._

"_What's wrong, honey?" Johanna asked, "We heard you scream."_

"_Look," Dawn said, thrusting something under Paul's nose. Paul looked at the foreign object as if he was confused to what it was. It was a plastic stick thing and had a three little Happinys patterned on it. Johanna, Maylene and Reggie craned to see what it was Dawn was holding._

"_What is it?" Paul asked at the same time as Reggie._

"_Oh," Maylene said as she looked over the small plastic thing. She took it from Dawn's hand and inspected it. She passed it onto Johanna who did the same. Slowly the two girls looked at Paul._

"_What?" Paul asked._

"_I'm going to be a grandma!" Johanna yelled happily._

"_I'm going to be an almost auntie!" Maylene shouted. The two women embraced. Paul snatched the plastic thing from Johanna and stared at it. _

"_How is this thing going to make you… Oh," Paul said. Reggie still hadn't worked it out._

"_I still don't get it," Reggie mumbled, "How is a plastic stick going to make you a grandma and you an almost auntie?"_

"_Moron," Maylene said, as she clipped Reggie round the head, "Dawn's having a baby!"_

"_What! Seriously?" Reggie asked. Paul was still stood staring at Dawn as if his brain was having trouble digesting this information._

"_You're pregnant?" Paul asked his wife. Dawn nodded quickly_

"_Yeah," she replied, "I took five tests and they all came back positive."_

"_You're pregnant?" Paul asked again. Dawn looked confused for a second. Paul let out a sigh. "I need a coffee."_

_He turned round and walked to the stairs, forgetting that he had left the box there. He tripped over it and went flying down the stairs, fortunately landing on a few of his Pokémon who had just happened to be walking through the door. There were a few roars and squawks from the various Pokémon. Dawn sweat-dropped at the top of the stairs._

"_Paul… Honey?" Dawn asked, "You OK?"_

"_Sure," Paul said, grimacing as he sat up. Reggie ran down to his brother's aid._

"_Good, good," Dawn replied, turning slightly green in the cheeks, "I'll leave you to Reggie to look after while I go…"_

_She ran back into the bathroom. Maylene and Johanna looked at each other._

"_Looks like it's going to be a long few months," Johanna said._

"_More like a long few hours as we go to A&E," Maylene replied. The two women let out a long sigh before they went their separate ways to check on the two parents to be._

"We were in A&E for hours," Dawn said as her children laughed loudly. Paul had his head in his hands as Dawn finished the story.

"So is that story, mummy?" Amber asked. Dawn nodded.

"Not quite," Paul said, "Mummy had four lovely children. One called Lewis who is very much like me. Another strong boy called Joshua two years later, followed by a cute little girl called Amber the year after that. Lastly came Alfie, who is sleeping upstairs and is my last hope for respect amongst you four."

"It ends with a family having tea," Dawn replied, "Eating pizza mummy specially ordered for her children."

"Wow," Josh and Amber said.

"What happened to Uncle Reggie and Auntie Maylene?" Lewis asked.

"Them two got married just after Josh was born," Dawn replied, "With Lucario being the best man."

"And Uncle Drew?" Josh asked.

"He never married," Paul replied, "Since I told him that Arceus would zap anyone who tried to step into a church if they had green hair when we were younger, he refused to get married officially, but, as you know, he's been engaged to May for the last two years."

"And Ash?" Lewis asked.

"He became Champion of Kanto when Amber was born. Actually when I was still in the hospital," Dawn replied.

"And mummy and daddy. Did they live happily ever after?" Amber asked.

Dawn and Paul looked at each other for a few seconds before they both smiled.

"Of course they did, sweetie," Dawn replied.

"Everyone lived happily ever after," Paul agreed.

…

"Well apart from Uncle Reggie who has to baby sit you sometimes," Paul added after a pause of silence. Dawn clipped him round the head.

"Stop spoiling the story," Dawn snapped, "Otherwise I'll put Bambi on."

"… You wouldn't dare…" Paul muttered.

"Children! Who wants to watch a film?" Dawn called to her children.

"We do!"

"Please somebody… Kill me… And quickly," Paul moaned. Dawn flashed him a smile before dragging him into the living room to meet his doom…

**THE END!**

**Hehe, the ending was a little OTT but so is family life. Before I sign off I would like to say thank you to RaveOn21now22 for suggesting I do a second chapter of the other fic 'It could've been me'. I would have done two chapters but it would have been no where as epic as this, so thank you for suggesting it :) **

**On another note, I am in the process of writing a Johto Fic with Dawn, Paul and Barry yet it's proving difficult to write T_T I'll update you as the story develops. In the mean time I will be posting another fic of mine called Rocket Academy. Wooo! I'll post that in a few days time so look out for it!**

**Hope you've enjoyed this story! Thanks again to all of you who read this! It's been awesome!**

**RSx**


End file.
